SportsShoes Blog

27/09/09

Just arrived back from Barcelona again where I was competing in a European Track Cup meeting at the Olympic velodrome.  We arrived there on Wednesday night and were pleased to find it was a lot hotter than Manchester!!  The next day was spent on the track, where I did a couple of rolling efforts and a standing effort to open up the legs.  I was pleased to find that my legs had finally woken up after feeling rubbish the past couple of days! We then rested up during the afternoon, we were staying in the Barcelona University accomodation which was just across the road from the track, so was pretty handy!

Friday was the first day of competition, with the 3k individual pursuit in the morning. I qualified fastest in 3.49 so was in the final for gold and silver in the afternoon, against a Spanish rider.  I was pleased to do a decent time after so little preparation and on an outdoor track.  The final didn’t go to plan, as I’d decided to ride a bigger gear, which I never really got on top of so ended up finishing 2nd.  However, I was still glad I’d tried out the new gear, as there is so little racing opportunites for the pursuit so its important to try new things, especially with the Nationals coming up in a few weeks

After the pursuit final was the scratch race, so I was pretty knackered by then! I rode ok and kept myself in a decent position throughout the race until the last 6 laps when I made a few mistakes, meaning I lost my position and so was never in contention for the sprint at the end.  Came 11th. 

The points race the next day was even more disappointing.  I didn’t score a single point, despite trying a few times to take a lap and attack the sprints.  I simply didn’t have the legs, and the fact I hadn’t ridden a bunch race on the track for almost a year definitely showed.

So…a mixed bag results-wise! Pursuit was promising but bunch racing definitely needs more work! Got another hard week of training though so I’m hoping that my fitness will improve and better results will come!

The Revolution meeting last week went ok, it was great to race in front of a sell out crowd and the velodrome was packed! My best result was 4th in the points race, I was tying on points for 3rd place with an American woman coming into the last sprint but she beat me so the 3rd place went to her. 

 I’ve been doing quite a few long rides recently getting in the winter miles! The weathers been pretty bad - wind and hail over Oakworth moor on Sunday but what doesnt kill you only makes you stronger I guess! I’ve been doing a lot of roller sessions to to build up speed for the track.

I had some good news last week as I found out I’d been nominated in the Junior Girls category for the BBC Yorkshire Sport Awards.  I was really pleased that someone had actually nominated me and I’m looking forward to the event in a couple of weeks!