tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50285987493953882472024-03-13T06:54:42.847-07:00Nicola Soden's BlogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-40752525426357457302015-02-12T04:16:00.002-08:002015-02-12T04:16:48.282-08:00My hero<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
are a lot of people in the cycling world I would say inspire me. Paul Kippax
and his ability to ride so hard he nearly passes out (this is also massively
entertaining – <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H34msV4wtjk" target="_blank">see youtube</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">), Charline Joiner breaking her back and competing in the commonwealth games in
the same year, my parents who have both had crashes on the bike in the last few
years and continue to get back on, Fred Smith who sacrificed everything to look
after his wife who was ill caring for her 24/7 because he didn’t trust anyone
else to do it properly.<br />
<br />
If I had to pick one though, my absolute hero would be Robbie Duncan. Robbie is
67 and rides for Manchester wheelers. I know Robbie from track league – a daredevil
and awesome tactician. Always on the right wheel, bravely squeezing through the
smallest gaps, never out in the elimination and regularly places in the top
three.<br />
One night in November Robbie had a big crash in the devil and ended up in
hospital with a broken pelvis, ribs and other injuries. I didn’t think we would
see him until the new season September 2015 earliest if he ever came back at all.
<br />
He was back riding and racing on the track in January - before doctors said he
would have been walking again unaided. This man is unstoppable. He is now back
racing on a Monday night in his opinion ‘slightly off the pace’, but I can
assure you he is not. He is on the front driving the pace, making the
breakaways in fast races. What this man has done is incredible.<br />
<br />
When I think of the accident I had two weeks ago (if you haven't heard about it click <a href="http://neutralservice.cc/neutral-service/news-round-up-26-01-02-02-2015/" target="_blank">here</a>) and how I didn’t want to
drive, or ride on the open roads, I thought of Robbie. Would Robbie let the
risk of an accident stop him doing the things he enjoyed? No he would not.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-5311764843257431012015-01-26T00:00:00.000-08:002015-02-20T05:04:17.236-08:00A hard ride with Planet X<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I agreed to do the Sunday ride with Planet X I had no idea of the scale of things. I arrived to find a group ride with over 20 people - something I've only previously experienced in chaingangs or road races! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The route set seemed ok to me, I assumed it was going to be fairly easy. So I thought it was a good idea about 20 miles in to go with the quicker boys up one of the hills into Grindleford and sprint for the sign. I won. Only because I don't think they knew the game. But I soon wished I hadn't.. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a rather nice cafe stop at the Hathersage Pool Cafe it was a long hilly ride home. I had forgotten how tough Strines actually is and had never ridden most of the other roads at all and already gone too hard. I could barely ride up each climb (and there were many). By the time we got back into Sheffield I genuniely didn't believe I would make it up Jenkins Road. I did. It's a lot easier than everyone makes out - nowhere near as hard as Pea Royd Lane. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />Overall a great ride. Very much looking forward to more. <br /><br />I wasn't much looking forward to track league the next evening however. I got up for the warm up and my legs were exceptionally stiff - I could barely turn them over.<br />Still, I got up for the first race of the night - a 12 lap scratch. I was barely hanging onto the back of the group and was thinking about going home. I decided to give the next race a try - this time the reverse devil (click <a href="http://teamyouvebeenchicked.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/first-win-of-year-for-carnac-planet-x.html" target="_blank">here</a> if you want to know what this is). I fared slightly better, this time sticking in with no problem and probably finishing 3rd over the line on the final lap. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It came to the final race of the night - the 30 lap points race and I was really feeling like I needed to go home. The wonderful Mike Farwell told me to man up and persuaded me to stay. We started and I ended up on the wheel of a man who decided to attack two laps in. I went with him and ended up in a break of 5 for the first half of the race, scoring in a couple of the sprints. The bunch caught up to us with 3 sprints remaining and I was fading quickly. I had to try, as I knew I had a chance of making the podium. I sat in for the first sprint, then managed to squeeze out a 2nd and 3rd in the two final sprints - enough for third overall. Not bad for tired legs!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Planet X rides leave every Sunday at 9am from the Showroom in Sheffield - <a href="http://www.planetx.co.uk/news/planet-x-news/q/date/2014/01/23/come-and-join-our-showroom-rides" target="_blank">click here for more info</a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-54454069676414108892013-09-10T10:55:00.000-07:002014-12-23T17:41:51.797-08:00The Ras na mBan hasn't even started yet..<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a busy day at work yesterday, driving the 5 hours alone
to Fishguard did not appeal. I didn’t want to go, stressing about whether or
not I was good enough, whether or not I would enjoy myself, what the accommodation
would be like… <br />
I (sort of) manned up and got on with the drive. After an extremely dull 5
hours I arrived at Fishguard at 12.10am – early for the time I was due to meet
Karen and Steve from GB Cycles. They were delayed as they had to go back for
Karen’s passport, so with the time being fairly tight I was asked to be
standing outside the car with my bike ready to put on the bike rack for 1.20am.
So at 1.18am I was stood in a cold, dark, empty, eerie car park with my
beautiful Parlee Z5 Sli. At 1.30am I was still stood there. I called Karen and she
had put the wrong postcode in the satnav! They were 40miles away – with only 30
minutes to go until boarding closed. The ETA was now 2.35am and they were
probably going to run out of petrol. Shit. There was no way they were going to
make the ferry. <br />
Reluctantly under Karen’s instructions I went to see the lady on the Stena Line
desk (thinking that there was absolutely nothing we could do about the
situation) and emptied my contents of the car in their office so that IF they
arrived in time, I could load their car up quickly. They were really very, very
helpful and to my disbelief allowed us to board despite being so late. To save
time I even rode my bike onto the ferry rather than strap it onto the car roof –
felt a bit weird sprinting along a ferry dock at half two in the morning. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As it happens, I am already having a great time with the GB
Cycles team. Line up for the Ras is:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Iona Sewell<br />
Karen Poole<br />
Sandra McKay<br />
Michelle Forster (London Phoenix rider also guesting for GB Cycles)<br />
And me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After lunch where the waiter hilariously dropped both our
drinks AND food all over the floor, we all went out for a little spin this
afternoon just to get the travelling out of our legs and Michelle’s front mech
fell off into her chain jamming it so she couldn’t pedal. We took it in turns
to push her the 8km back to the hotel, where we still haven’t found a fix to
the problem yet… Fingers crossed she can start tomorrow for the first stage. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0nzq8i2Sumg/Ui9cnDi1tKI/AAAAAAAABdk/aoH-3OFL6Xc/s1600/20130910_164556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0nzq8i2Sumg/Ui9cnDi1tKI/AAAAAAAABdk/aoH-3OFL6Xc/s320/20130910_164556.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></span></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-k1MUAZY5w/Ui9coAh5eYI/AAAAAAAABds/bzXttafUyrI/s1600/Pushing+Michelle+home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-k1MUAZY5w/Ui9coAh5eYI/AAAAAAAABds/bzXttafUyrI/s320/Pushing+Michelle+home.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br />
The Ras na mBan (women’s tour of Ireland) consists of 6 stages over 5 days. The
first will be tomorrow at 5pm and is 65km ‘rolling’ circuit based around Ennis - </span><a href="http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2153061"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2153061</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.
For race updates follow @rasnamban and for a start list click </span><a href="http://www.rasnamban.com/news/81-official-start-list-announced-for-an-post-ras-na-mban" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">here</span>.</span></a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-57704120670692760312013-01-27T14:22:00.000-08:002014-12-23T17:40:16.991-08:00Thank-you Activ Cycles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vJfEDlGbip8/UQGnTb3f8gI/AAAAAAAABKU/q94M9JlZ55A/s1600/Activ+cycles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"></span></a><br /></div>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vJfEDlGbip8/UQGnTb3f8gI/AAAAAAAABKU/q94M9JlZ55A/s1600/Activ+cycles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vJfEDlGbip8/UQGnTb3f8gI/AAAAAAAABKU/q94M9JlZ55A/s320/Activ+cycles.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></a><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I’m pleased to announce that
I will continue to be supported by Activ Cycles (an independent bike shop based in Corbridge, Northumberland) for the 2013 season <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">in addition to the Champion Systems/Maxgear team</span>.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><br /><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
The guys at <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Activ Cycles really</span>
helped me out through 2012 in lending me equipment to race with and encouraging
me to believe in myself. I had a difficult start to the year after breaking my
collarbone in 2011 and was at a point where I was ready to give it up. They
persuaded me to travel up to train with them a couple of times in
Northumberland and the Lakes and reminded me what I enjoy about riding my bike.
They’re brilliant fun, although trying to follow them downhill is not so much
fun – nutters!<br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><br /><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Thanks very much guys, really looking
forward to the rest of 2013! Please follow them </span><a href="https://twitter.com/activcycles" target="_blank"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">@activcycles</span></a><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> or like them on </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Activ-Cycles/150410538333924?fref=ts" target="_blank"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">facebook</span></a><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-74768566671801263232013-01-23T12:51:00.001-08:002013-01-23T12:51:43.477-08:00London Bike Show Rapha Elite Women’s Indoor London Nocturne<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4Yan-o46Ys/UQBKp26b3iI/AAAAAAAABHE/nvofPobhriI/s1600/2013_LondonBikeShow_Nocturne_3D_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4Yan-o46Ys/UQBKp26b3iI/AAAAAAAABHE/nvofPobhriI/s320/2013_LondonBikeShow_Nocturne_3D_03.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outline of the course </span><a href="http://www.londonnocturne.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">www.londonnocturne.com</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I love doing
things that are a little bit different, so when I heard about the UK’s first
indoor criterium – the Rapha Elite Women’s Criterium at the ExCel - I had to
have a go. The race was only 25minutes + 5 laps, so I figured that track league
speed, combined with long base miles would suffice in off season. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The day
before we were due to travel the forecast was for heavy snow, so it was touch
and go whether we would be able to get there. I had taken the day off work and
didn’t fancy spending it sat at home not racing, so went for it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The conditions
on the M6 were interesting. The outer lane not in use as it was covered in an
inch or so of snow, but the traffic was quiet and there wasn’t much snow south
of Birmingham.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived in plenty of
time to have a look around the bike show. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Watching the
2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> cat race and fixed bike race (yes that’s with no gears or
brakes) before ours was interesting to say the least. There were a number of
crashes and anyone who came off on ‘the paint’ was losing a LOT of skin!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-duxdyLYRtXY/UQBKqLewJBI/AAAAAAAABHU/cq8gTccZQYs/s1600/nicola+Maxgear+blur+london+nocturne.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-duxdyLYRtXY/UQBKqLewJBI/AAAAAAAABHU/cq8gTccZQYs/s320/nicola+Maxgear+blur+london+nocturne.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me cornering - obviously to fast for Towse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a0Q7E3L3nZ0/UQBKrauZMJI/AAAAAAAABHM/bHhVbuDcY_o/s1600/Rider+briefing+London+Bike+Show+indoor+nocturne.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a0Q7E3L3nZ0/UQBKrauZMJI/AAAAAAAABHM/bHhVbuDcY_o/s320/Rider+briefing+London+Bike+Show+indoor+nocturne.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rider briefing - mostly telling us not to run over their<br />feet!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made sure I
got a place on the front row on the start line – I couldn’t mess it up after
coming all this way. The whistle went and I got swamped. I had the worst
imaginable start ending up in the back quarter of the field after lap 1. Not
the start I was aiming for..</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
It took 4-5 laps of riding as hard as I could and negotiating passing riders in
the corners to bridge to what was left of the bunch – all of 3 riders! I sat in
to recover and realised Clemence Copie was away, so made an effort to get her back
with the others, but I was already suffering from having to chase back on. I
looked over at the clock, expecting us to be half way in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and it only showed 5 minutes! The course was
quite twisty and technical in places, although the corners were painted with a
red paint with grit in it to make the corners more grippy which worked well (as
long as you kept it upright). The only issue was
coming onto and off the painted areas – cornering too early or too late would
mean sliding out on the concrete - in the first few laps of the race I nearly
decked it a fair number of times!<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the
closing stages of the race my legs were buckling but I just about managed to
stay with the other 3 riders finishing in 5<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup>. The race was a bit of
a shock to the system, but saying its off season I’m pretty pleased with my result!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><tbody><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 12.75pt; padding: 0cm;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
</td><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 12.75pt; padding: 0cm;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clemence
Copie<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
</td><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 12.75pt; padding: 0cm;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">High
Wycombe Cycling Club<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
</td><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 12.75pt; padding: 0cm;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">28:26<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
</td><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></tr>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 12.75pt; padding: 0cm;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
</td><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 12.75pt; padding: 0cm;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alice
Barnes<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
</td><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 12.75pt; padding: 0cm;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">23C
Orbea<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-56714386276788406962012-10-30T15:22:00.000-07:002012-10-30T15:22:27.621-07:00The National Hill Climb Championships 2012 – The Rake<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WcpAA4oBKaw/UJBSwz6D_JI/AAAAAAAABCc/JMmMI-hWxu0/s1600/Nicola+the+rake.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WcpAA4oBKaw/UJBSwz6D_JI/AAAAAAAABCc/JMmMI-hWxu0/s320/Nicola+the+rake.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pain!! velouk.net</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I earmarked The Rake as a key target this season relatively early on, as it was on a short, steep climb – something I knew would suit me.<br /><br />The increasingly good results I’d had over the previous two months really gave me the confidence I needed entering hill climb season. I managed 2 wins and 4 podiums in the hill climbs and wins in the track leagues leading up to the Nationals at the Ramsbottom Rake. In the hill climbs, I was never too far off the winning times, so position didn’t worry me. I was just focused on the Rake. I visited it on numerous occasions learning how best to ride it, how much effort to put in and what gears to use. I also did a lot of turbo intervals and reduced my weekly ride time to barely 5 hours a week, eat healthily (no cakes, no drinking). I picked up some super-light Vue des Alpes Light SuperSport Edco Carbon Wheels and stripped the bike down as far as possible. The most seriously I’ve ever prepared for an event. <br /><br />I arrived on the morning of the climb early, pre rode it to test how slippery the surface was (it was pouring it down). I stayed in the car to keep warm until I needed to warm up. Preparation was spot on. I got to the start line with 3 minutes to go – plenty of time but not enough time to get cold. The timekeeper counted down – 30 seconds, 10 seconds, 5 seconds… paused. I thought I heard go, I didn’t. I tried to go but the starter pulled back. I was off balance leaving the start, and ploughed straight into the barrier – couldn’t avoid it – and both feet came out of the pedals. I tried to get them back in, but couldn’t. Shit. I almost cried, but thought sod it; I’ve trained so hard for this so I’ll damn well ride as hard as I can. I did. As I reached the steep section the legs started to scream, but I pushed on. The atmosphere was immense – the noise practically carried you to the top. I don’t think I’ve ever ridden so hard in my life. I reached the top of the section of 1 in 4 and could barely turn my legs. Still, I whack<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8mRUUofq_Jg/UJBRzlYFKUI/AAAAAAAABCU/3J_5TRA7Hso/s1600/NationalHC2012_TT-45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8mRUUofq_Jg/UJBRzlYFKUI/AAAAAAAABCU/3J_5TRA7Hso/s320/NationalHC2012_TT-45.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me, trying to go fast up Rawsons Rake - Ed Rollason Photography</span></td></tr>
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ed the gears up and ‘sprinted’ as hard as I could for the line (although was probably actually going about 10mph). I almost rode into some poor bloke stood at the finish line, then collapsed at the finish with no colour in my face, unable to stand and talking utter gibberish. I had raced as hard as I could. Done everything I could. I finished in a time of 3:36 – only good enough for 6th woman. Third place finished in 3:23. Make of that what you will, maybe I lost out on a medal, maybe I didn’t.. It certainly gives me the confidence that I would have been well up there. <br /><br /> Just over a year ago, sat nursing a broken collarbone, with no outstanding results to note, I never thought I would be saying that I believed I could have medalled in a National Championship. Remembering where I was then, makes me realise even 6th isn’t so bad at all! Either way, I’m not giving up! </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-59062280083962206522012-10-30T15:11:00.000-07:002012-10-30T15:11:52.465-07:00Top 20's, 10's second cat and Track Nationals<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDYbwD8HmDU/UJBP9cICPlI/AAAAAAAABCM/fegc3GldgIQ/s1600/Nicola+and+Mel,+Builth+Wells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDYbwD8HmDU/UJBP9cICPlI/AAAAAAAABCM/fegc3GldgIQ/s320/Nicola+and+Mel,+Builth+Wells.jpg" width="217" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me and Mel after a muddy crit in Buith Wells</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been meaning to write a blog for quite some time, although it has been put to once side as I have been totally absorbed in my preparation for the National Hill Climb Championships.<br /><br /> I started performing better after a break in racing around June, after a few DNF’s, with a top 15 at Naseby – providing the boost in confidence I needed. A couple of weeks later, I travelled to Wales with Mel and her family to the Auchterloine Memorial stage race in Wales, which consisted of a time trial, rather muddy criterium and road race. I was dreading the crit, as it was round the Welsh Royal show ground, it was raining hard and there was a lot of mud and standing water. Once I got racing I absolutely loved it – probably the most fun race I’ve done all year! The main field was quickly whittled down to about 15 riders. After a crash split the main group, I found myself in the second group but recognising the other riders weaknesses managed to break away from them finishing 11th – my best result yet.<br /> The second day I almost got dropped on a steep descent on the first lap (didn’t make that mistake twice). I went for a long one with 1km to go, but it wasn’t to be and finished mid bunch. With consistent results I finished 8th on the GC! Absolutely brilliant circuits to race on – will definitely be going back next year. <br /><br /> Following this I raced some crits at Tameside, getting a top ten in one of the mens races and also at Darley Moor Women’s Team Series. I would have liked to be in the break at Darley Moor but guest team mate Jo Smith got there first! I worked to control the bunch to allow them to get away, as Jo is a top class sprinter and I knew she wouldn’t let us down and she didn’t, finishing a close 2nd to none other than Lucy Garner soon to be double Junior World Road Race Champion! I look forward to having Jo guest for us again in the future!<br /><br />I also made some progress in city centre criteriums at the Newport Nocturne, despite starting at the back due to being gridded base on category I was still in the main bunch on the final lap (containing about 25/60 starters) – something which I have never done before. <br /><br /> Not long after I also earned my 2nd Cat licence – a move up 2 categories in one year!<br /><br />Track nationals were next on the list. I’d never competed in the National Track Championships before, so I was just riding for experience (aiming to peak for the hill climb rather than the track nationals). I didn’t have any problems keeping up whatsoever, although rode rather conservatively. Wish I had done a bit more in the points race, but came 10th in the scratch race which concluded in a sprint finish – total surprise, as I’m not the best of sprinters. All good progress ready for the hill climbs... </span><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-84126336381128357362012-08-13T14:12:00.000-07:002012-08-13T14:12:55.242-07:00Back on the bike!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FtEw6MYIeF0/UCln1ynJM4I/AAAAAAAAA80/8gh3IXFYKGo/s1600/Nicola+National+Crit+Champs+-+Sheffield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FtEw6MYIeF0/UCln1ynJM4I/AAAAAAAAA80/8gh3IXFYKGo/s200/Nicola+National+Crit+Champs+-+Sheffield.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">National Crit Champs, Sheffield</span></td></tr>
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<span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve had a tough couple of months. More responsibility at work has been difficult – a very welcome change, although change is always challenging. Stressing about getting jobs finished off and tiredness from travelling long distances for bike races was starting to take its toll and my head just hasn’t been in it. So I decided to take a few weeks off racing. Expensive decision to make, as about £90 of races had already been paid for, but it needed to be done.<br /> <br /> I did as much or as little as I felt like for those few weeks – riding Madison SQT’s at Manchester Velodrome and the Manchester to Blackpool ‘Sportive’. I also started doing the Buxton TT’s, which I have actually started to enjoy…there may be a tester in there somewhere yet. Maybe not. <br /> What I’ve certainly learned is how to balance racing with work and I’ll perhaps be less quick just to enter a women’s event just because they put one on in future!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Since I’ve been back racing, I’ve actually been doing much better with a couple of top 20’s in the last couple of weeks. I came 13th at Naseby (one of my favourite courses), although spoiled somewhat by running an E/1/2 men’s race at the same time causing us to stop with just 3 miles to go. I also came 20th(I think) In the National Crit Champs in Sheffield, although only the top 19 were recorded. The course was fantastic, as the city centre crits always are with fast corners and a cobbled climb!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bjonE7zjq4Y/UClozxfayQI/AAAAAAAAA88/ooCykLMWdOY/s1600/Activ+Cycles,+Corbridge+Maxgear.jpg"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This weekend I took some more time out for myself and travelled up to Northumberland and the Lakes for the weekend to ride with the Kyklos team. I got to try various Edco wheels, deep sections on the first day and some lighter ‘Albula’ Competition wheels on the second day. With Kirkstone Pass on the route for day two I was grateful for the lighter wheels with ceramic braking surface (fantastic in the wet so I'm told), although NOT the 39 25 gear ratio. Everyone else was on compacts, triples or had a 29 (MARK!!). The weekend was brilliant fun, Eve and I enjoyed giving the boys a challenge and the scenery was awesome – in particular the Langdale Valley which looks like something from Jurassic Park! I can’t wait to go back!</span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bjonE7zjq4Y/UClozxfayQI/AAAAAAAAA88/ooCykLMWdOY/s1600/Activ+Cycles%252C+Corbridge+Maxgear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bjonE7zjq4Y/UClozxfayQI/AAAAAAAAA88/ooCykLMWdOY/s320/Activ+Cycles%252C+Corbridge+Maxgear.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Bit of a bling 'club' ride - pretty <br />much everyone on deep section Edcos. </span></td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-4801355678756342202012-06-06T15:07:00.000-07:002012-06-06T15:36:15.093-07:00A few races under the belt<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After not having a hugely successful <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>start to the season, I’m pleased to say I’ve
finished some road races, in the bunch with cranks and knees intact!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UocERvK4qT8/T8_R7jIuk6I/AAAAAAAAA5w/2H2H5ocUoEE/s1600/Oxford+Tour+series.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UocERvK4qT8/T8_R7jIuk6I/AAAAAAAAA5w/2H2H5ocUoEE/s1600/Oxford+Tour+series.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oxford - 'The Corner'</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It started with the first round of the Tour Series in
Oxford. We travelled down in the morning to have a cycle round the city. It was
the hottest day of the year so far, so brilliantly timed. We had a little cycle
round, a look at the old university buildings and a picnic whilst watching the
kids race, right by the tightest corner of the circuit – entertaining to say
the least. Hayley arrived and we went to put on our lovely speedsuits and sign
on. The Johnsons Health Tech Series Crits are always really exciting - the
atmosphere with the large crowds and the tightly cornered city centre circuits,
often cobbled are always great fun. I had absolutely no expectations as I had
been ill in the run up to the race (and to be honest was still ill on the day),
but I was there to have a good time – especially with the sun out! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uvB3CS1Xujo/T8_R_D9AbJI/AAAAAAAAA54/102fb4qbU1E/s1600/Nicola+Hayley+maxgear+Oxford+Johnsons+Health+Tech+Tour+Series.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uvB3CS1Xujo/T8_R_D9AbJI/AAAAAAAAA54/102fb4qbU1E/s200/Nicola+Hayley+maxgear+Oxford+Johnsons+Health+Tech+Tour+Series.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me and Hayley at the start line in<br />Oxford</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We rolled up to the start line, somewhere near the back
(doh) although by the time we had rolled forward it wasn’t too far from the
front. We started the couple laps behind the bike and the girls were taking it
cautiously round the set of triple hairpins, which were in a Y shape and each
one got tighter. When the motorbike pulled away the race went BANG. The pace
went right up and I got a little swamped on the first few corners. I managed to
work my way up to the first chase group, where we tried to catch the main group
in front. We were working well together, although eventually the illness caught
up and I found myself struggling out of the final hairpin each time until I
slowly lost contact with the group. I got lapped on the final lap, despite my
best efforts to keep ahead. However, despite being ill this was still an
achievement on the previous year when I had been lapped several times. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hayley had done really well too and we’d both
had a great time, although were so hot we went straight to find a shop and
decided to buy a two litre bottle of water each! Our ‘race mechanics’ had
wandered off so to get them back had to resort to stuffing them down the
skinsuits – not a good look!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kX_8cO9-LTY/T8_PueRVBkI/AAAAAAAAA5g/8W4PmxU4nDI/s1600/AEphotos-May12-_A217724-AE+(ZF-8635-36922-1-001).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kX_8cO9-LTY/T8_PueRVBkI/AAAAAAAAA5g/8W4PmxU4nDI/s320/AEphotos-May12-_A217724-AE+(ZF-8635-36922-1-001).jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next race on the calendar was the National Road Race
Series Hillingdon GP. The weather was still glorious, although far too hot for
a road race but I did have my bling Edco deep sections!! All the girls seemed
pleased the race had been shortened by 10laps due to a big crash in the ¾ race
earlier on. In the earlier stages of the race I managed to keep quite far forward,
although when the decisive break went I found myself too far back to react.
Unfortunately all the big teams were represented in the break so it was pretty
much impossible to organise a constant chase. I decided to wait for the sprint
finish as chasing was useless. I was on a good wheel until 2 to go when I got
squeezed out and ended up at the back with no way through. I rolled in near the
back of the bunch for 42<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My next race in Banbury was practically the opposite of
Hillingdon. It was around 14 degrees and pouring it down and I arrived to
discover there was a 1 mile, 14% climb – good job I brought the light wheels!<br />
Despite the poor weather, I was really up for the race as the course looked
like it was going to be one of the most interesting I’d raced. It was 3 laps of
a circuit that went up a ‘’Knowle’’ called Edge Hill. The climb is usually the
sort my other half enjoys dragging me up, so I’d had plenty of practice! The
race stayed pretty neutral until we started the climb. As expected, the race
splintered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was a bit too far back,
passing riders just to keep up the pace with the riders at the front, but they
were too far away. I ended up in a chase group working hard with them to regain
contact with the lead group on the run up to the climb for the second time.
Unfortunately I’d spent a little too much energy to be able to hang on to the
leaders and was dropped again. There were a group of four of us working
together – two of which had been in the break at Hillingdon the previous week.
The 4 became 10 as two groups merged towards the end of the race. The finish
line was right at the top of a steep kick – just my kind of finish! I came 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup>
in our group, pipped by Louise Mahe who had finished 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> and won the
sprint prize at Hillingdon. I was happy with my sprint, although slightly
gutted I couldn’t have been up there on the main climb to be able to really see
what I can do. Lessons to be learned, roll on Capernwray this weekend………..</span><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-73354392159273718532012-04-10T14:07:00.004-07:002012-05-18T11:45:16.485-07:00One hec of a Mountain Time Trial, and some other racing..<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rD9NEqhl-e0/T4Sj6UfrvNI/AAAAAAAAA2I/2zbiRRokRLc/s1600/Nicola+Buxton+CC+MTT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rD9NEqhl-e0/T4Sj6UfrvNI/AAAAAAAAA2I/2zbiRRokRLc/s320/Nicola+Buxton+CC+MTT.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The snow lined roads of the Buxton MTT. Yes,<br />
saddlebag is still on - yes another schoolgirl error! Picture<br />
by Steve Gait</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of my own blogs. So many things to write about but not had the time. <br />
<br />
I’ve not had much luck in racing so far, at the season starter crits my crank played up, kindly falling off on both occasions. Fortunately found out before the race season started. New chainset, problem solved (so far…). I’ve had a better time of it on the track, getting two wins and a third in 1 night and getting moved up a group where I have had the opportunity to race a 10miler. Exhausting, but brilliant training! Looking forward to racing the Friday night track league when it starts up again in October.<br />
<br />
I’ve had to go on a couple of away jobs with work lately, but I struck lucky when I learned that one was a week in Bowness-on-Windermere – just down the road from Eve who lives in Kendal. It also ‘happened’ to coincide with a team weekend. It was a brilliant week away and I was totally battered by Eve over the week up the various climbs around the area. We also had a ride round the Capernwray course - it is extremely tough, but I like a challenge.<br />
<br />
This Easter weekend has been another tough one. I competed in the demanding Buxton CC Mountain on Good Friday, which I had entered having forgotten how hard it was. The course is 2 laps round 11 miles of climbing and descent with nothing in between! I remembered the section along Axe Edge being flat. It was not. It was merely a little flatter than the climb leading up to it. <br />
The winners normally ride the course on Time Trial bikes, but with a generous athletes prize on offer (and an unsuitable bottom gear on the TT bike) I opted to ride on my race bike and try out a pair of Carbon Edco wheels, which looked awesome and felt great! Although I went slightly slower than the previous year, the conditions were worse with a headwind up the climb and cold temperatures with snow lining the sides of the road, I still managed to collect 4th in both the women’s and 2 lap athletes prizes.<br />
<br />
Next up was the Stockport Clarion Hill Climb on Easter Sunday out of the Goyt Valley to Long Hill – a long straight road that seems to go-on forever. Strange time of year to have a hill climb, but why not?! I didn’t think the climb would be much fun in the wet, but I actually quite enjoyed it! Probably mostly because I beat Richard (sorry!), but I quite liked the climb as well. Will look forward to doing the Buxton CC club event on the same climb later in the year. <br />
<br />
The final racing of the weekend was the Easter Monday Open Track Meet – a good opportunity to race with just women! Unfortunately the races were quite short and I made a few tactical errors, but still managed 3rd in the scratch and devil and 2nd in the Keirin and Courses des Primes.<br />
<br />
I’m now looking forward to racing at the Cheshire Classic in a couple of weekends time!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hSAAgzkb_0I/T4deTqkw-8I/AAAAAAAAA2s/xsh7vxrKvlM/s1600/Nicola+and+Lisa+team+sprint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hSAAgzkb_0I/T4deTqkw-8I/AAAAAAAAA2s/xsh7vxrKvlM/s320/Nicola+and+Lisa+team+sprint.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nicola and Sports Citys Lisa Daily in the Team Sprint</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JpUV8SCDO0M/T4dcJ3xeksI/AAAAAAAAA2k/auu3Is5XAFs/s1600/Cold%252C+Wet+hill+climb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JpUV8SCDO0M/T4dcJ3xeksI/AAAAAAAAA2k/auu3Is5XAFs/s320/Cold%252C+Wet+hill+climb.jpg" width="158" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the start line for a cold,<br />
wet hill climb! Kenda tyres<br />
were brilliant - no wheel<br />
spin whatsoever!!<br />Photo by Steve Gait</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-72866483441014094602012-02-20T05:44:00.000-08:002012-02-20T05:48:15.494-08:0010 minutes (and more) of hell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OO0XbKTUOc8/T0JNvNuFwTI/AAAAAAAAAsk/_YrU-MNnsA0/s1600/426875_187880747982475_109843512452866_252693_1714243558_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OO0XbKTUOc8/T0JNvNuFwTI/AAAAAAAAAsk/_YrU-MNnsA0/s200/426875_187880747982475_109843512452866_252693_1714243558_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For anyone who didn't ride the Mersey tunnel time trial yesterday, you really missed out!! Glorious sunshine, closed roads and a lively atmosphere and there was quite a crowd. I would liken it to an early Monsal hill climb in terms if the number of people that we there. Not to mention the huge prize list... </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three of the Maxgearettes had entered, myself, Mel and Frankie. I had borrowed a time trial bike from my good friend George Rose - a beautiful black Hinde complete with Zipp disc! A big thank you to him! As well as the awesome new Champion System/Maxgear/Kyklos speedsuit, Limar had supported us with a couple of speed demon aero helmets for the event. We really looked the part! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we warmed up in the sun, Mel was showing me the various tricks she can do on the rollers including dismounting whist on the bike (don't try that one in the kitchen!) and Frankie made good use of the turbos provided by Vita Cycles for warm up by the speakers to get in the zone'.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Snl-0aL9XPQ/T0JNwNKbDWI/AAAAAAAAAss/9PrHCydd6eE/s1600/422433_187882191315664_109843512452866_252701_1529177217_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Snl-0aL9XPQ/T0JNwNKbDWI/AAAAAAAAAss/9PrHCydd6eE/s320/422433_187882191315664_109843512452866_252701_1529177217_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After an hard warm up, really important for such a short race, it was time to head off to the start line! I felt more nervous than I usually do for road races - in a time trial there's nowhere to hide. With a growl from the starters and a shove, I was off. </span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
I usually find time trials a little dull, but this one was anything but. On the decent under the tunnel the speed really picked up and what had been a sweeping corner at 30mph in the car had to be leant into. It was really disorientating and I could hear the noise of the disk echoing off the tunnel walls. This was followed by a Climb back up to the top. I cant even tell you now what sort of gradient it was, I really couldn't tell. It looked really steep but could be big ringed fairly easily. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I turned in the road at the top and started the decent back under the river. By the time I reached the bottom I was already willing to see daylight. My feet had gone numb with the cold down in the tunnel and it was really hurting. As I got to the exit I got out of the saddle for the last push.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What turned out to be twelve minutes - and 4th place - most certainly hurt, but I don't think you'll find a more exhilarating time trial easily... I will be entering again faster and stronger next year.<br />
<br />
Thanks to Vita Cycles for putting on a great event and to Ian and Alex who were on photo/tweeting/support duties.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-1511441390582315882012-02-09T15:28:00.000-08:002012-02-10T05:25:41.181-08:00Champion Systems/Maxgear/Kyklos team launchCongratulations to the Maxgear riders racing in the Revolution Series - Jake Ragan took the future stars title with some of the best team work displayed of the evening and Champion Systems/Maxgear/Kyklos won overall for the second year running! It was some exciting racing - especially the Derny Race which I had never seen before, won in spectacular fashion by Simon Yates(Maxgear) who had also won the National Madison Championships earlier in the day! <br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-63OWxrlilmk/TzRT27fzdyI/AAAAAAAAAjg/I_RYfjDKAOI/s1600/Maxgear+Team+launch+kyklos+bikes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-63OWxrlilmk/TzRT27fzdyI/AAAAAAAAAjg/I_RYfjDKAOI/s320/Maxgear+Team+launch+kyklos+bikes.jpg" width="320" /></a>Some good news for myself also - got a few podiums at the track league including a win, although that means I get moved to a faster group now...<br />
<br />
The team launch last weekend was also a great success despite very cold and snowy conditions - some fantastic shots were taken by John Picton and we all got to meet the lovely sponsors from Moore & Large/Todays Cyclist and Veroli Limited (Kyklos/Edco distributors). It was an early start to get from Manchester to Northumberland. We were up at 4.30am! When we got there it was cold, but sunny and Matfen Hall looked beautiful. The new team van and all the new Kyklos bikes were there along with members from all the teams. <br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2rMSlrLg30I/TzRSQOL8MmI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/JNt_CsrlC5A/s1600/Kyklos+Maxgear+RT+Bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2rMSlrLg30I/TzRSQOL8MmI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/JNt_CsrlC5A/s200/Kyklos+Maxgear+RT+Bike.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
It was really great to meet the guys from the senior and junior teams and the weekend turned out to be loads of fun. Each team did a little presentation on their goals for the year before the ride out with shots. Just as we got on the bikes it started to snow. Still, being the tough northerners we are, we carried on. It was a little sketchy in places, but everyone managed to stay upright. Unfortunatley the weather was too bad to ride on the Sunday.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6NrRmnqri0/TzRSMPUS9EI/AAAAAAAAAjI/ajoVnduXQGw/s1600/Snow+sprint+Champion+system+Maxgear+Kyklos-+Wayne+Greenhalgh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6NrRmnqri0/TzRSMPUS9EI/AAAAAAAAAjI/ajoVnduXQGw/s320/Snow+sprint+Champion+system+Maxgear+Kyklos-+Wayne+Greenhalgh.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Overall it was a fun weekend some great shots were taken (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.380020032012547.106374.249457575068794&type=1" target="_blank">see John Pictons facebook page</a>) and everyone had a great time. It is great to be part of a team where everyone has a passion for cycling and really enjoys what they do! Roll on the next team weekend!!!<br />
<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-75239917682178605192012-01-26T10:29:00.000-08:002012-01-26T10:29:38.533-08:00Track league, team launch, Revolution. Busy, busy, busy!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ok, so perhaps not the best start to 2012. Ill twice in two weeks = not many road hours so far this year... Still, plenty of time for some big road rides before the season starts! </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our new team kit arrived at the weekend! Big thanks to </span><a href="http://champ-sys.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Champion Systems</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> :) looks great, as always and LOVING my new speedsuit!! Photos coming soon... </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have a busy couple of weeks to come - most of the girls will be ripping up the track league tomorrow so it will be a good chance for the team to meet. Then its off to the Revolution on Saturday which Maxgear is currently leading overall - fingers crossed for holding the title for the second year running!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following weekend is the team launch at <a href="http://www.primahotels.co.uk/matfen/" target="_blank">Matfen Hall</a>, which i will include a big ride with the boys team. Should be good training :) </span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-10fZNr6wWZ4/TyGa2MkoriI/AAAAAAAAAcg/yTI5Lh7eQ3s/s1600/ACT+track+league+devil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-10fZNr6wWZ4/TyGa2MkoriI/AAAAAAAAAcg/yTI5Lh7eQ3s/s320/ACT+track+league+devil.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Racing will begin in March with a couple of the early season womens crits at Salt Eyre and Tameside, followed by the Buxton CC Mountain TT on 6th April around Longnor (Derbyshire) organised by the good old couch potato! <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime I'll be enjoying getting back into racing at MRTL and ACT track leagues - even had a few attacks off the front last week. Looks like my inner wimp might be disappearing..!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-55181387846649471182011-12-13T12:56:00.000-08:002011-12-13T13:10:23.793-08:00Can my aching collarbone plate be cured?If you read my blog regularly you will know I broke my collarbone in July 2011. I had a titanium plate put in a couple of weeks later and from that point healing was quick and I was able to use my arm again almost fully within weeks.<br />
<br />
<br />
During the week before first meeting my surgeon/consultant, I was contemplating whether or not it should be plated. Should I leave it to possibly heal itself overlapped with a large lump and with one shoulder shorter than the other, or should I have it plated, with screws showing and potential permanent loss of feeling where the insicion is made.......?! Touch decision. Except the consultant made it for me. It was a bad enough break for him to say 'this needs fixing'. So stress over, at least I didn't have to think about it anymore. The scar is clean and straight. Looks pretty good actually.<br />
<br />
However, I'm not left without problems... I have had it in now almost 5 months and the injury is still giving me some trouble. The bone has healed no problem, and I can ride a bike to the standard I could before. But the skin around my shoulder still has no feeling and the plate itself aches. Could possibly be something to do with the cold or that my skin feels like it should feel something but can't...? Either way, I don’t really fancy doing the Madison at the Velodrome any time soon. The madison training sessions were the only one’s I rarely missed and always enjoyed. Nor am I 100% committed to racing. Although perhaps this is something I will have to get used to again...<br />
<br />
Anyone else out there had similar problems? Please let me know... any help/advice would be much appreciated.<br />
<br />
Nicola xUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-36388701811761054732011-11-27T11:05:00.000-08:002011-11-29T10:23:07.450-08:00The weekend my cranks fell off and I got blown off the bike!<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I_xEeeVXOy0/TtKTSb80wZI/AAAAAAAAAXo/QvkeZxTsasU/s1600/cranks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I_xEeeVXOy0/TtKTSb80wZI/AAAAAAAAAXo/QvkeZxTsasU/s200/cranks.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Saturday I set off out to do a nice couple of hours round Cheshire near Poynton up the Brickworks and back round through Chinley. I couldn’t persuade the Couch Potato to come out so set off alone. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: white;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I got just past Poynton when I could feel the pedals coming loose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked down and my crank was hanging off!! I called Richard who set to the rescue with a large Allen key, whilst I relaxed in Costa with a Cappuccino! <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Once he had arrived we rode back to Sam’s at SVC in New Mills to get it looked at (after stopping two more times to screw the cranks back on again). Just needed a new bolt! Sorted! Thanks Sam. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: white;"></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I had only managed 16 miles and it was dark now. Never mind I thought.. at least I would get a nice hilly 3 hrs in the next day, as we had decided we would ride the Onix Twitter Ride. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: white;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">We met at 9am with Mel and Alex this morning at Macclesfield Forest to start the loop. It was freezing but I was wearing my Maxgear Champion Systems Tech Fleece Thermoshield Jacket, so I was toasty warm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The start was slow with 4 punctures in the first 5k. Once we got going the guys at the front decided it was too windy and cut the route short. It turned out to be a good decision. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: white;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ChpUAMu8ffA/TtUiH5NbkeI/AAAAAAAAAXw/y88Jxtluxq0/s1600/nic+twitter+ride+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ChpUAMu8ffA/TtUiH5NbkeI/AAAAAAAAAXw/y88Jxtluxq0/s320/nic+twitter+ride+2.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leading out with @thetrouser <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/crankphoto/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/crankphoto/</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">We turned off the planned route to head back into Macclesfield to ride up the Cat and Fiddle. We had help from a very strong tail wind – according to Mel’s speedo and we were clocking 25kph uphill with ease! As we approached the last corner before the pub at the top Dave Harmon suddenly went sideways into the grass. I thought he might just have fancied a bit of cyclo-cross, then Richard (the couch potato) followed. As I reached the point they had veered off I hit a sideways gust of VERY strong wind and suddenly found my bike pulling towards the back of Richard’s, who had now stopped at the side of the road. I was putting all my body weight in to try and steer it away but it wasn’t enough! I got blown closer and closer to Richard’s back wheel and couldn't avoid it!!! <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: white;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I hit him and ended up off the bike! Fortunately I landed on my feet though this time and not the collarbone! Phew! We weren’t the only ones to get blown off either, although fortunately no-one was hurt.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: white;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">All in all it was a fun day riding with some interesting people.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-59895589735518249872011-11-25T10:28:00.000-08:002011-11-25T10:28:01.880-08:00Winter Begins<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the national hill climb, I had an enjoyable wind down weekend in the Peak District. I had my hair done and went for a couple of easy rides one with my Mum over long hill (a regular at the Vets SQT’s at Manchester) and a longer ride on the Sunday with the couch potato and Buxton CC into Cheshire. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I like this time of year where I can just simply enjoy riding the bike again – this year more so than usual! Not very easy sometimes on my heavy steel winter bike.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w1FCAdDzi0I/Ts_bn6lCShI/AAAAAAAAAWw/DPm1hUHsp_k/s1600/The+view+on+the+way+down%2521.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w1FCAdDzi0I/Ts_bn6lCShI/AAAAAAAAAWw/DPm1hUHsp_k/s200/The+view+on+the+way+down%2521.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The following weekend we took a long trip up to Ingleton (about 30mins North of Lancaster on the Lancs/Yorks border) with just under 20 Buxton CC riders. Their weekends away are always tough. The Saturday ride was 65 miles and included the rather steep Beggermans Road between Hawes and Buckden (although the view down the other side was well worth the climb). We stopped at the bottom in Buckden at The West Winds Yorkshire Tea Rooms where we were treated to homemade sandwiches, soup, apple pie and UNLIMITED COFFEE!!</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Sunday run was a more rolling route into Sedbergh. Being on </span><a href="http://evedixon.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eve’s</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> home turf she joined us for the ride and showed most of the boys how to climb! </span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">All in all an enjoyable weekend (although will perhaps opt for a B&B over a Hostel next time).</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FxDu_ueIths/Ts_cYxtifyI/AAAAAAAAAW4/HMmVzLxUnRI/s1600/photo+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FxDu_ueIths/Ts_cYxtifyI/AAAAAAAAAW4/HMmVzLxUnRI/s200/photo+%25281%2529.JPG" width="149" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This weekend was spent back home in Manchester. I went to cheer the girls on, who were racing at the Friday night track league (MTRL). Then a nice leisurely 10.30 (ish) start the next day for a ride out to Rivington with </span><a href="http://melissabury.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mel</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, followed by a few hours on the turbo at the </span><a href="http://www.maxgear.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maxgear</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> stand at the revolution<span> </span>- yes, another excuse to wear the awesome WASP speedsuit in public (and got a good view of the racing). You didn’t need to see the track to know when Cav won the scratch race – I’ve only heard the crowd roar so loud when Chris Hoy races. </span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A great night was topped off </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with a hot dog and chips! </span></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-15114055970366073052011-11-01T13:59:00.000-07:002011-11-02T15:44:07.871-07:00National Championship, Fixed Collarbone and the WASP 'supersuit'<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After almost a month off the bike following my last race and barely any road miles in my legs, it was time to ride the National Hill Climb Championships. I was nervous to say the least, particularly given I’d timed myself up the climb the week before and it took me over 23 minutes (which would have got me the lantern rouge this weekend).<br />
Since my big crash I used the Nationals mainly as a goal to work for to make sure I rode the turbo to keep myself fit, but as always I wanted to do well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The morning before the competition, I rode the hill with the guys from Buxton CC. It was definitely going to be a headwind!! As the hill was only 3% and only 4.5 miles long it was borderline timetrial/hill climb. I decided to opt for my road race bike with tri-bars. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Saturday evening we (the couch potato and I) went off to Manchester Velodrome to support the Maxgear team at the Revolution Series. It was a great evening for Maxgear with plenty of impressive teamwork from Chris Lawless and the others in the future star boys and a fantastic 2<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>nd</sup> place in the points race from Megan Boyd smashing all the competition to take the final lap! She also bagged 3<sup>rd</sup> places in the other two races – the 6 lap dash and the 20 lap scratch! <br />
As well as the entertaining racing, Mel was </span></span><a href="http://melissabury.blogspot.com/2011/10/revolution-but-not-on-track.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">riding the rollers</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (for two hours no less) wearing the new WASP time trial speedsuit - recently developed by Maxgear/Champion Systems, which looked awesome. I really wanted to try one for the nationals and managed to persuade Wayne (</span><a href="http://twitter.com/maxgearrt"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">@MaxgearRT</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) to let me have one for the National Hill Climb!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wRunbmKdN7U/TrBYl7GCCAI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/sBbhLWbtwQ4/s1600/Maxgear+nicola+National+HC+Champs+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wRunbmKdN7U/TrBYl7GCCAI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/sBbhLWbtwQ4/s400/Maxgear+nicola+National+HC+Champs+3.jpg" width="400" /></span></a><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the day the wind was less strong than it had been the day before, but it was still a headwind. I pulled on my WASP speedsuit (which stands for <span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text">Wattage saving, Aerodynamic, Speed Products</span>) and it felt like I was putting on a superhero outfit – the perfect mental preparation for a hill climb! The skinsuit was super-fitted and had awesome WASP like abs on the front! It gave me the boost I needed and I was really excited and ready to race!! I got on the turbo to do a proper warm up (although I didn’t have any profiteroles for race fuel unlike new Female Junior HC Champ </span><a href="http://evedixon.blogspot.com/2011/10/junior-womens-national-hill-climb.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eve</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">!) and raced over to the start! The climb was tough – the wind was strong and blowing a cross head in gusts. As I reached the half way point there was a large crowd shouting support which spurred me on just as I hit the mile long straight into a block headwind - ouch. I finished 13<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> of total 19 ladies and I had beaten the dreaded 23 minutes getting a respectable 18.23. I’ve raced the hill before and it isn’t my PB, but I think given the events of the last few months being less than a minute slower than the ladies I’ve been racing with throughout the year isn’t too shabby! Maybe it was the supersuit that helped?!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Big shout out to my good friend Sarah Byrne who signed with Horizon Fitness for 2012, won the BUCS hill climb and come third in the Nationals - not a bad week! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-62324741738059474672011-10-22T14:56:00.000-07:002011-11-04T12:18:49.090-07:00Richard does the Red Bull MinidromeToday I went to Victoria Baths on Hathersage road with Richard and his track bike (plus very small chain ring) to watch him attempt the Red Bull Minidrome - 10 laps of a 25 metre track.<br />
When I got there he went to sign on and I went to find the track. It was really, really small with tight corners. I watched some of the other competitors there were more DNF's than riders completing the 10 laps! Riders were going over the top of the tiny track, sliding down the banking in the first lap and falling off whilst trying to stop!<br />
<br />
I became extremely nervous and didn't want him to ride it, but he was up for the challenge. As he did his 6 'warm up' laps, it was clear he was riding too high up the track but on each lap he got lower and lower - closer to the faster red line. He stopped after the 6 laps and got ready to race his 10 hoping to qualify for the evening knock out session. The beeps went and he shot off. The first lap was good - nice and low, but he was going too fast. On his first time past the start finish line he drifted up onto the blue and beyond - straight over the top! Fortunately he didn't hurt himself too bad, landing on the crash mats. It looked pretty funny though.. see for yourself!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/aq5BMgL9mbw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://richardtowse.blogspot.com/">See Richards report</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.redbull.co.uk/cs/Satellite/en_UK/Video/Red-Bull-Mini-Drome-Video-Manchester-2011-021243113060604">Also see redbull's version</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-19152008084071334682011-10-04T15:07:00.000-07:002011-10-19T17:16:29.107-07:00Cycling Come Back from my broken collarbone<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: currentColor; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So the couch potato has enjoyed the last couple of months not having to ride with me. The first few days I felt (and apparently looked) like I’d been hit by a truck. Everything was so sore it was almost numb. A couple of days later I started to feel my shoulder, it hurt like crazy and felt really unstable. I couldn’t sit up or lay down by myself and needed a pillow when sitting on the sofa to tuck behind my shoulder. I couldn’t be a passenger in the car – any bump was agony. I wasn’t able to do much so stayed at my parents, shuffling around the house and getting help dressing. After about a week, as the bones were starting to connect, the began rubbing over each other making a horrid grinding noise and sensation. The painkillers made me feel ill so decided to man up and take the pain instead. I was so fed up by the end of the second week i forced myself back into work.</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MiXxhIZOkHk/TouCzKSVOlI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/fqpsmJyl-5w/s1600/XRAY+PAINT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="184" kca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MiXxhIZOkHk/TouCzKSVOlI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/fqpsmJyl-5w/s200/XRAY+PAINT.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xray from Abergavenny Hospital</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: currentColor; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have spent the last 8 weeks off the road - 3 weeks complete rest, holding my shoulder and not being able to properly move, progressing (if you can call it that) to 5 weeks suffering on the turbo trainer. I had my collarbone pinned on 6<sup>th</sup> August – quite scary as I’d never been to hospital let alone have an operation. All went well, I have 9 screws and a titanium plate in my shoulder. I spent most of the first Monday night Track League comparing war wounds (obviously not racing) although everyone was enjoying reminding me that Wiggins had come third in the Vuelta with a freshly pinned collarbone. I did get to laugh at the couch potato however, complaining for being put in the fast group <a href="http://richardtowse.blogspot.com/2011/09/track-league.html">http://richardtowse.blogspot.com/2011/09/track-league.html</a> . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve been in close contact with the other girls who broke bones that day, in particular Tanya Hunt who also broke her collarbone. She did a better job than me though, breaking it into 5 pieces one of which shattered – mine was just in 3 bits! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Generally everyone has been really helpful and I’ve recovered very quickly. I even got back on my bike last weekend – total of 50 miles including 30 in the wet (don’t tell the surgeon). Although the couch potato, was ‘too busy’ to make it out in the rain. The turbo seems to have done the trick and I look forward to riding in my new Champion Systems Speedsuit at the National Hill Climb Championships at the end of the month! <br />
<br />
See you there?</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-51264304377151155022011-09-22T13:45:00.000-07:002011-09-22T13:45:34.708-07:00End of season 2011 (literally) - Abergavenny RR<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuIdZKOqKE8/TnubfSx5OpI/AAAAAAAAAEA/irlbfmrTs2A/s1600/Nic1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" hca="true" height="208" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuIdZKOqKE8/TnubfSx5OpI/AAAAAAAAAEA/irlbfmrTs2A/s320/Nic1.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">With Abergavenny coming up and yet another uphill finish, my aim was to race a more active race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew that my chances were good as long as I could keep in contact with the front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were several lone attacks early on, including Eve who got away in the first lap, but all attacks were brought back by the bunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few laps later there was a big attack, I tried to go with it and in doing so almost dropped off the back of the back of the bunch!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The break did not get away, although Sarah Byrne did, gaining over 2 minutes on the bunch at one point. It all came back together again and on the final lap I could sit on the front no problem and I was feeling really good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time we got near the bottom of the finishing climb, I had managed to end up at the back again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spotted one of the other girls riding up the bunch to the front and followed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With 1km to go I was on the front, this was my chance....</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">All too soon reality struck. I was lying in the middle of the road on my back holding my shoulder. There had been a crash and I had broken my collarbone. Gutted.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had looked round (as much as my injured body would allow) to see what had happened. Most of the bunch were also on the floor. I could see my bike in the verge in the distance with the front wheel bent in two. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The couch potato did a really good job organising everything including getting my parents to travel down from Manchester to come and pick my car up from South Wales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think he was a little gutted that he didn’t get to go in the helicopter, but relived I wasn’t badly injured. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After speaking to other riders at the Preston National Crit Championships the following week (in which Eve got 10<sup>th</sup>!!!!) we learned a rider on the left of the road hooked handle bars with another rider which sent them crashing across the road flinging me over the handlebars. The rest of the girls had nowhere to go and had run into the back of us. <br />
<br />
I’m really grateful to all the help from everyone at the race who helped from the NEG riders, commissares, the Dixon’s, The Weaver’s, The Shenton’s along with the paramedics and medical staff at the Hospital in Abergavenny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sorry if I’ve forgotten you but I am thankful for your help.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Total races for the year: 11<br />
Races completed in top 20: 2<br />
Total races completed in the bunch: 5<br />
DNFs: 1<br />
Broken bones: 1<br />
Frames written off: 1</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Total races completed by the couch potato: 2 (he’s happy)</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-82145106632701361882011-09-21T12:23:00.000-07:002011-09-21T12:23:05.734-07:00Mid Season - Part 2<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aLvU0Zi7ZQc/Tno3oDdIzvI/AAAAAAAAAD8/m_fe3cnSfs0/s1600/nicola5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hca="true" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aLvU0Zi7ZQc/Tno3oDdIzvI/AAAAAAAAAD8/m_fe3cnSfs0/s320/nicola5.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From Bedford my performances continued to get stronger with bunch finishes in Bashall Eaves (30<sup>th</sup>), Stratford (15th) and Naseby (16th). At Naseby Mel Bury had made her come back following<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>5 months of illness and Eve was looking extremely strong and was ‘beasting it on the front’ – Mels words, not mine. All got a bunch finish including Maxgear triathlete Heather (who immediately went for a run after finishing the race, which looked more like a sprint than a run if you ask me!!!!) and Eve just missed out on the podium with 4<sup>th</sup>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WLe9NKhtkww/Tno2arYDPZI/AAAAAAAAAD0/nwnliq7dUxU/s1600/Team1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" hca="true" height="201" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WLe9NKhtkww/Tno2arYDPZI/AAAAAAAAAD0/nwnliq7dUxU/s320/Team1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mid season also included the well publicised Johnson Heath Tech Series as part of the Halfords Tour Series. The Maxgear girls raced in the local events in Stoke and Oldham. Both events had a big crowds and we had podium photos taken as a team. On the start line Snap ‘I’ve got the Power’ boomed out of the speakers and the crowd bashed the barriers to the beat. That song still gives me chills when it pops up on shuffle on the turbo .<br />
With not much experience in crits, I overgeared and got dropped, although was only lapped by the breakaway on both occasions. Still the experience was awesome – in particular Oldham was exciting with a steep decent into a sharp corner at the bottom with a reverse camber. A cobbled climb made up the rest of the 1k circuit. Both crits were great fun to ride, the music and the atmosphere was second to none. I will definitely be back next year. </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Total races for the year: 10<br />
Races completed in top 20: 2<br />
Total races completed in the bunch: 5</span><br />
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Total races completed by the couch potato: 1 (He's proud of it, he insisted I include this)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-2873760803649043962011-09-20T11:05:00.000-07:002011-09-20T11:05:40.644-07:00Mid Season Part 1 - Bedford 2 day<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pVDuiCdJLdQ/TnjPVXr_HJI/AAAAAAAAACA/ArYXOvzNnoo/s1600/Stage+4+-+Nic5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" rba="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pVDuiCdJLdQ/TnjPVXr_HJI/AAAAAAAAACA/ArYXOvzNnoo/s200/Stage+4+-+Nic5.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Since the race in Cheshire I had been looking for more women’s races to enter and come across Maxgear RT who needed more female riders to compete in the National Women’s Team Series. I immediately snapped up the chance to ride for a cool and successful team – one which had won the Revolution series in the previous winter. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My first race riding for Maxgear was the Bedford 2 day. The best two days racing of my life and my favourite race of the calendar so far.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was very excited to receive my new Champions System Kit. The couch potato thought it was a bit too florescent, but I loved it. It was extremely comfortable and fit perfectly! I was nervous and worried about not being able to keep up and making the team look bad. I’m not sure if was this drive not to let the team down, or enhanced confidence following the Cheshire Classic, but I need not have worried.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Stage 1</strong></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> was the team time trial. 9 miles and all of them uphill!! We finished 11th of 18 teams which wasn’t bad considering we’d never ridden together before.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/HTc8kLbPEJw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stage 2</b> was a 50mile road race around an interesting lumpy circuit with a hard uphill finish. Warm up had been short and I was extremely nervous waiting on the start line. The race was quick and windy. The pace was set by World Champion Sarah Storey and who managed on the first lap to shell out over half the field</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/56aFk7PWG_E/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/56aFk7PWG_E&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/56aFk7PWG_E&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I counted down the laps, determined I would not be dropped too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Despite hitting the same large pothole on each of the four laps, there were no punctures and I survived until the bell lap. </span>A wave of excitement went through me - I was about to finish a road race in the bunch for the first time. Nor was I going to let my team down!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the last climb I had ended up at the back, but of a bunch of around 40 I still managed to finish 25th. I was ecstatic!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Day two was harder still, with legs like lead from the previous day and a windy individual TT of two laps of the bowl at Millbrook test track, followed by a tough race up 6 laps of the Alpine course. I finished just a few minutes down on the race leaders finishing 30th in the overall standings. A fantastic result!</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028598749395388247.post-25383396143730684632011-09-18T13:01:00.000-07:002011-09-18T13:01:55.412-07:00Early Season 2011<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before this year I was fairly new to road racing but not a novice in bike racing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had competed on the Velodrome for a number of seasons and had won the women’s ACT track league in 2010 but I had always liked road and it was time to race a full road race season. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My professional accountancy final exams had forced me to take a break from cycling during the back end of 2010 – not a great end to a cycling season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For anyone who likes numbers (the easiest way for me to communicate as an accountant) my 2010 road race stats look like this:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Total races in 2010: 4<br />
Punctures: 1<br />
Crashes: 1<br />
Races in which was lapped: 2</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was all worthwhile avoiding racing and taking time out off the bike, as I passed all my final exams and I submitted all my documents last week to become a fully qualified chartered accountant!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Typically this time off the bike was followed by a long period of heavy snow and general bad weather. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A very slow start to 2011. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My first two races of 2011 were the 3rd/4th cat CDNW races at Pimbo and Saighton - very early on in the year and dominated by men!!!.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a stifled winter, this was a very bad idea. Unsurprisingly I was dropped and lapped multiple times – never mind. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first serious race was the Cheshire Classic - part of the women’s national series. This was one of the four events I had entered in the previous year. The race was a series of ten laps of a circuit which included a short, sharp climb through Acton Bridge - also the finish. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last year I had been dropped on the first climb up to Action Bridge and lapped by what was left of the main group. I was determined this wasn’t going to happen this time. I gritted my teeth and hung on to the top of the climb. I couldn’t believe it when I was still in the main group, we turned the corner at the top and I hung on as the group was pushing up the false flat. Then I punctured, typical. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got a wheel change off the neutral service and continued to find the group had been stopped just up the road after a horrendous crash had taken place on the main road in an incident involving a car and around 10 riders. I stopped to make sure everyone was ok. Richard (my couch potato boyfriend) had turned up, unbelievably on his bike, to watch and was helping the injured and told me to carry on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once the race had restarted I managed to stay with the main group for a couple of laps before dropping off the back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ended up finishing in a small group just a few minutes down on the lead group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I left the race feeling good – a vast improvement on the previous year’s performance.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Total races in 2011: 3<br />
Races finished on the same lap: 1</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0