British National Road Race Champs - Mike's video
The day was full of highlights, one of them has to being seeing this man take the men's National jersey!
Wednesday 26 June 2013
Cameraman Mike
My friend and ex-club mate Mike put together this video of the British National Road Race Champs. Check it out, its class and has a pretty cool soundtrack too! Thanks Mike! :)
British National Road Race Champs - Mike's video
The day was full of highlights, one of them has to being seeing this man take the men's National jersey!
British National Road Race Champs - Mike's video
The day was full of highlights, one of them has to being seeing this man take the men's National jersey!
Monday 24 June 2013
British National Road Race Champs 2013
The morning of the British National Road Race Championships in Glasgow started just like any other morning of a big race, with the pre-race nerves! I have my routine pretty much sorted now so once porridge was eaten (albeit at the second attempt after the first attempt ended up all over the rental flat microwave...and me!) and final checks that I had everything were done, I headed off to Glasgow Green where the race started from.
I had parked my car the night before on the street that the race manual had said was where riders could park, but as I rode down the street it hit me that there was not a single car on the street and a road block had been set up...Discovering that your car has been towed (complete with race bike inside) with less than two hours before the race starts does not make for a nice stress free pre-race prep. Panic immediately set in and after a distress call to my coach he found out where the car pound was. Google maps is a wonderful thing(!) and so to cut a long story short, a sprint to the pound and police station nearby, not to mention numerous phone calls later, my boyfriend somehow managed to track down my car that had been deposited a few streets away!! Paul got a free repeated sprints training session in as well in the process!! He can't say I'm not good to him!... Talk about luck (or a change in fortune or whatever...)!!! Am so grateful to everyone who helped me out at such a stressful time, not sure how I managed to hold it together with no tears!! I think my coach would have preferred a more chilled out start to the day too, sorry Peter and thanks for remaining so calm!
It was now 40 minutes until the race was due to start and so after starting to breathe (semi-) normally again, I signed on and warmed up on the rollers. Rolling up to the start with supporters gathered around the line, I focused on keeping my breathing nice and relaxed and took on a gel. I had a wee bit of trepidation about the course after the recce I had done with Jen the day before. It was quite technical in places, with a fair few corners and lots of changes in the road surface. However, in retrospect, I absolutely loved it and cornered like I've never cornered in my life! Still lots of work to do on my cornering but this race has done wonders for my confidence I think!
The race started quite steady as we rolled out of the park and onto the circuit. The weather gods had decided to play ball and it was dry and even fairly warm. Going round the first couple of corners it soon became apparent that I was going to have to work on holding position close to the front so as not have to sprint out of every corner to close the gap, which is very energy sapping! The speed ramped up a bit on the first drag up St Vincent Street but being in a bunch there was plenty shelter. Its always good to get the first lap out the way and settle into the race. I kept focus on keeping a good position in the bunch out of trouble and started to relax a wee bit. The atmosphere around the course was buzzing and I kept hearing shouts of "go Julie/Boomer" all around the course! Should probably explain now that my nickname is Boomerang! All those shouts really helped to keep my motivation up to try and make everyone proud. One other notable moment was coming up the finishing straight going into the last lap. The crowds were lined both sides of the course and were banging on the advertising boarding on the barriers! The sound was deafening, but in a good way, and I remember having goose bumps as we rode over the start/finish line as the atmosphere was just something else, it was buzzing!
Somewhere into the 3rd lap I think, the pace on one of the short punchy climbs was getting a bit much for my legs, I think there were a few attacks where the speed ramped up as the attack was chased down. I found myself slipping back along with a few others and watched as the leaders opened up a gap. However in road racing its a case of never give up as you never know what can happen and so I worked in the small group of three or four and chased to try to get back on the lead group. As we turned back into the park we could see the cars in the convoy up ahead and pushed on to close the gap. I think the lead group had sat up a bit and as they headed along the Clyde we got back on to the group. It was good to get some shelter again and try to recover from the effort of chasing back on! I'm not sure how long I managed to stay with the group, maybe a lap or so, before the pace got too much again and I dropped back in a group of about 10 riders. This was to be the group I would finish the race with. We kept a steady pace going for the remaining laps, but weren't going all out to chase down the leaders who now had a pretty substantial lead! Those girls really are true class!!
Coming into last few miles I knew that it would come down to a sprint finish to complete the top 20 places as we had been told by one of the team cars that there were 10 riders up the road ahead of us. Sprinting isn't really my thing, but I always try to give it my all so when we turned onto the finishing straight and the pace started to the kick up with the sprinters putting the hammer down, I moved to the outside to have a bit of a clear line. One last push saw me just pass a rider right before the line and this proved to be well worth it as it meant I finished in 20th position. Peter was at the finish and I think I just about managed a smile in between trying to breathe again! It then started to sink in that I had just finished my first British National road race and seeing the smiles on everyone's face who was there to support me made me feel really proud to have such ace family and friends!! Thanks to everyone who shouted me on during the race and for the continued support, couldn't do this without it! You guys rock!! Special mentions to my Mum and Dad, Paul, May and Richard, Peter, Becky, Mike and Kara for all their support on the day!
Well my first blog has turned into a bit of an essay so probably time to stop there. Until the next blog when I will update on my adventures in the Curlew Cup, Women's National series race. Cheerio!
Jools.
I had parked my car the night before on the street that the race manual had said was where riders could park, but as I rode down the street it hit me that there was not a single car on the street and a road block had been set up...Discovering that your car has been towed (complete with race bike inside) with less than two hours before the race starts does not make for a nice stress free pre-race prep. Panic immediately set in and after a distress call to my coach he found out where the car pound was. Google maps is a wonderful thing(!) and so to cut a long story short, a sprint to the pound and police station nearby, not to mention numerous phone calls later, my boyfriend somehow managed to track down my car that had been deposited a few streets away!! Paul got a free repeated sprints training session in as well in the process!! He can't say I'm not good to him!... Talk about luck (or a change in fortune or whatever...)!!! Am so grateful to everyone who helped me out at such a stressful time, not sure how I managed to hold it together with no tears!! I think my coach would have preferred a more chilled out start to the day too, sorry Peter and thanks for remaining so calm!
It was now 40 minutes until the race was due to start and so after starting to breathe (semi-) normally again, I signed on and warmed up on the rollers. Rolling up to the start with supporters gathered around the line, I focused on keeping my breathing nice and relaxed and took on a gel. I had a wee bit of trepidation about the course after the recce I had done with Jen the day before. It was quite technical in places, with a fair few corners and lots of changes in the road surface. However, in retrospect, I absolutely loved it and cornered like I've never cornered in my life! Still lots of work to do on my cornering but this race has done wonders for my confidence I think!
The race started quite steady as we rolled out of the park and onto the circuit. The weather gods had decided to play ball and it was dry and even fairly warm. Going round the first couple of corners it soon became apparent that I was going to have to work on holding position close to the front so as not have to sprint out of every corner to close the gap, which is very energy sapping! The speed ramped up a bit on the first drag up St Vincent Street but being in a bunch there was plenty shelter. Its always good to get the first lap out the way and settle into the race. I kept focus on keeping a good position in the bunch out of trouble and started to relax a wee bit. The atmosphere around the course was buzzing and I kept hearing shouts of "go Julie/Boomer" all around the course! Should probably explain now that my nickname is Boomerang! All those shouts really helped to keep my motivation up to try and make everyone proud. One other notable moment was coming up the finishing straight going into the last lap. The crowds were lined both sides of the course and were banging on the advertising boarding on the barriers! The sound was deafening, but in a good way, and I remember having goose bumps as we rode over the start/finish line as the atmosphere was just something else, it was buzzing!
Somewhere into the 3rd lap I think, the pace on one of the short punchy climbs was getting a bit much for my legs, I think there were a few attacks where the speed ramped up as the attack was chased down. I found myself slipping back along with a few others and watched as the leaders opened up a gap. However in road racing its a case of never give up as you never know what can happen and so I worked in the small group of three or four and chased to try to get back on the lead group. As we turned back into the park we could see the cars in the convoy up ahead and pushed on to close the gap. I think the lead group had sat up a bit and as they headed along the Clyde we got back on to the group. It was good to get some shelter again and try to recover from the effort of chasing back on! I'm not sure how long I managed to stay with the group, maybe a lap or so, before the pace got too much again and I dropped back in a group of about 10 riders. This was to be the group I would finish the race with. We kept a steady pace going for the remaining laps, but weren't going all out to chase down the leaders who now had a pretty substantial lead! Those girls really are true class!!
Coming into last few miles I knew that it would come down to a sprint finish to complete the top 20 places as we had been told by one of the team cars that there were 10 riders up the road ahead of us. Sprinting isn't really my thing, but I always try to give it my all so when we turned onto the finishing straight and the pace started to the kick up with the sprinters putting the hammer down, I moved to the outside to have a bit of a clear line. One last push saw me just pass a rider right before the line and this proved to be well worth it as it meant I finished in 20th position. Peter was at the finish and I think I just about managed a smile in between trying to breathe again! It then started to sink in that I had just finished my first British National road race and seeing the smiles on everyone's face who was there to support me made me feel really proud to have such ace family and friends!! Thanks to everyone who shouted me on during the race and for the continued support, couldn't do this without it! You guys rock!! Special mentions to my Mum and Dad, Paul, May and Richard, Peter, Becky, Mike and Kara for all their support on the day!
Well my first blog has turned into a bit of an essay so probably time to stop there. Until the next blog when I will update on my adventures in the Curlew Cup, Women's National series race. Cheerio!
Jools.
Maiden blog
Here goes nothing...
I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a while now so have finally decided to bite the bullet and give it a go! Not sure it will be anything of interest to anyone, but I just thought it would be a good way to document some of the stuff that goes on in my life.
Most of it is probably going to be centred around cycling, so I make no apologies for the lack of variation in the topic! First blog proper to follow soon about racing in my first British National Road Race Champs....
Happy reading! :)
Jools.
I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a while now so have finally decided to bite the bullet and give it a go! Not sure it will be anything of interest to anyone, but I just thought it would be a good way to document some of the stuff that goes on in my life.
Most of it is probably going to be centred around cycling, so I make no apologies for the lack of variation in the topic! First blog proper to follow soon about racing in my first British National Road Race Champs....
Happy reading! :)
Jools.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)