Going solo

Newest member of Team Pink, Anna, reports on the Richmond Park TT...

This Sunday the London Women's League threw us a curveball. Not only was their latest fixture a Time Trial (hold the gasps), but it came with a start time of 6am. Seeing as the rest of the club were up and out early doors that day for the London to Brighton and back ride, it was probably only fair that we joined in with the sunrise salutation. So, myself, Debs, Steph, Charmaine and Nicole took on the Richmond Park TT. 

Now, I've never done a TT before. I had an inkling I might enjoy it, and confess I was just a weeny bit overexcited when the alarm went off at 4.30am. A quick whiz down Twickenham high street (past the man covered in vom with a kebab in his hand - I'm not joking), into the park and I was onto the start line. For me, the start was an epic event in itself .... "Number 21, you're on the line" - err, who? Sorry, me? What line? Oh I see, that one on the floor. Right- yah. Got it. Smooth McNuff, very smooth... Having my bike held was also a novel experience. I have no doubt that onlookers were mightily impressed as I executed the (soon to be trademarked) 'zig-and-wobble' to begin the 10.4 mile journey down the course.

The next 30 minutes passed in a blur in the struggle to find that fine line between a solid sustainable pace and overcooking it entirely. I can't really remember much else except that the incline up to Richmond gate wasn't particularly conducive to my speed, and that roundabouts in a TT course are just plain inconvenient. 

As I made it across the finish line I took a cheeky look back. I was expecting to see the Twickenham rider who'd set off 30 seconds behind me, but instead Debs came powering up the hill. Free from the shackles of the usual crit and road race shenanigans, we had a feeling she might be in her element on a TT... and we were right. She smashed it! 29:10 - a time worthy of 2nd place in the women's TT category, but counted for 5th in the stronger road bike field. The rest of us weren't (too) far behind and piled in at 9th, 10th, 14th and 18th. In our midst was also a damaged Nicole - fresh from her 'hardnut' crowning at the Velojam, but sporting a severely bruised wrist. All in all, a solid result from the Pearson Pinkies, and one that should serve to maintain our second place in the London Women's League. 

Once the hard work was done, all that remained was for us to toddle off to Nikki's place to catch the Nocturne coverage on TV. All over a civilized protein feast of bacon, eggs, toast & tea, of course. And I was back in bed by 11am. Now that's a real Sunday.

Oh yeah, there were some Pearson boys participating as well. Andy Berridge came 4th with a cracking time of 26:15, only 30sec behind the winner, in what was also his first TT. Chris Rees thought he might have won the "most improved" award after doing last year's TT on his cross bike, but alas, they didn't seem to be giving out this prize this year. Richard Thomas also put in a sub-30 time. Great work by all.

VeloJam - Women's only track meet at Herne Hill

Nicole reports on her first track meet...

Having raced track to a fairly good level “in the 90’s”, I think Vikki had been secretly looking to make a return to track ever since her comeback to road racing a few years ago. So when news of Velojam was announced, I said I’d give it a go with her. There were 3 categories on offer – A for experienced track riders, B for novice track riders, and C for novices to racing altogether. Having ridden on a track on 3 previous occasions, and never raced, I firmly belonged in Cat B. The experienced Vikki entered Cat A, which had a large and impressive field.

Being of similar stature, Vikki leant me her spare bike, a retro 90’s steed, pimped up with new pink bar tape, and also provided rollers for us to warm up and cool down on – having also used them on 3 previous occasions, I was an expert now. First up was a 12 lap scratch race. Ours was quite civilised; we all pretty much rode around together in what was for many, our first race. I found myself on the front with a lap to go, and having no idea of what I was doing, decided to start winding it up... unfortunately not hard enough, and got pipped on the line to finish 3^rd. I was thanked afterwards for a good lead out.

Next was the points race, which was pure evil. I’m used to sprinting once in a race, and then stopping, not once every 3 laps. On the second last lap I said to Tessa from Dynamo that I thought I was going to vomit. However, I managed to pick up some points in each of the sprints and finish 2^nd, but was walking like a cowboy afterwards.

After a quick two lap dash heat (safely though), it was time for the Devil race, probably the most technical of all the races. I saw what Laura Trott did in the World cup earlier in the year, but since repeated sprinting seems to make me want to vomit, I decided just to stick around near the front. All was going well until about halfway through the race, when a girl behind me ran into my wheel, my left foot unclipped, and from there it was all over. Three of us went down fairly heavily. So many thoughts go through your head when you crash, all in a short space of time… “Where’s my bike, I need to get back on the group (then realised I was on a track and not in a road race!). My wrist hurts, my bum hurts, my ankle hurts. Will they restart the race? I need to finish the Omnium, I’m coming 2^nd. There are good prizes on offer”. Then I saw my bike. Both wheels had buckled so there was no way I was going to be able to continue on it.

Vikki kindly offered me her other bike, but said that if I crashed this one, she probably would cry. That makes two of us. I jumped back in for the restart, before I could think about crashing again, and managed a 4^th. The last event was the two lap dash final, where I decided I’d just get near the front and stay out of anyone’s way. Clare from Dulwich Paragon beat me in the sprint again (for about the 5^th time today), I just didn’t have the speed to get round her. So, 2^nd overall in the Cat B Omnium, and yes, the prizes were good! And as a bonus, I was awarded the “Badass” prize, which was an awesome pair of Fast Jacket Oakleys. I couldn’t hide my excitement!

Thanks to Mule Bar Girls for organising such a fantastic event. It was great to see so many women take part (>50), with all standards catered for. Not sure if track racing is my forte  though (I favour a 2hr race minimum), but it’s good speed training, and I’ll definitely give it another go at some point. Perhaps after I get Vikki’s bike repaired… 

Vikki's thoughts on the day... 

When I saw the start sheet for the A cats of Velojam, I thought that there must be some mistake and I had entered the National Championships. Such a huge, experienced field! Once on the start line I tried to forget about everyone else and ride safely without getting dropped. The first race was a scratch race, 15 laps. I felt quite good, didn't get dropped (unlike some of the field, who were lapped) but was not able to feature in the top 6 of the bunch sprint, so no omnium points. The next race was a points race. I used to be quite good at these (in another life), it was all I could do to keep up, no points... again... On to the two lap dash, didn't quite make the final. Finally: the Devil, lots of fun but again no omnium points. Loved it, apart from seeing Nicole on the deck (again) in her B cat devil. I'm sure that she's got a lot to say about that... I think that I'd like to do more track. Wonder if I can fit it in...

Omega stage race - Portsmouth

Chris and I thought we would go and try out the Omega Stage Race - a 2 stage event consisting of a time trial and circuit race. The course – the Mountbatten Cycle Circuit resembled a velodrome and having spent numerous hours on the track over the winter I was quite looking forward to the 2 lap TT.

I came 2nd in the TT whilst Chris managed to beat the whole Cat 3 men’s field and came 1st. (Much to our surprise given his bike was definitely not of the Time Trial variety!)

After a successful morning and a brief lunch stop, we both lined up for the circuit race in the afternoon. The Men’s Cat 3 and Women’s E1234 race were put together. As you can imagine, I was slightly nervous about cycling with the Cat 3 Men having only moved up from Cat 4 women last week but I was up for the challenge……

As we set off the pace kept changing dramatically which was definitely an experience. I managed to hang onto the bunch for 3 lung busting laps before being chucked out the back. Frustrating but brilliant! Having been lapped, I managed to get back in the group and a further 4 laps in the group. By this point I had learnt that I probably haven’t done enough training recently and also being at the back of the group is not the place you want to be, especially in a big bunch!

Chris managed to stay in the bunch the whole way and came in 3rd in the sprint for the line at the end, securing him the overall win!

I came in 3rd in the Crit and 3rd overall and had a fun day. Definitely up for another Men’s Cat 3 race at some point soon...

Charmaine

Sat June 9th - Cyclopark, Hillingdon and the Nocturne!

Team Pink were out in force on Saturday, racing or supporting (or racing and then supporting!) the various women’s only races held in and around London. Get yourself a cup of tea, this blog post is a little lengthy!
  

Cyclopark

With 3 women’s only races all being held on the same day, it was disappointing to see that only 6 riders lined up for the Cat 3/4 only race at Cyclopark. However, you can only beat those who show up on the day. Steph reports that the group worked together for almost the whole race, dropping a couple of riders, then “the gloves came off for the final lap”. She finished 2^nd to claim a podium spot in her first year of racing, and will be back next Saturday to take on all-comers on the same course!

Steph with the winner, Hannah Evans

Hillingdon

On Saturday 4 pinkies headed to Hillingdon (plus Kate on the sidelines) – Charmaine, Anna and I with a mission to gain BC points, and Vikki, racing to lead-out anyone on her wheel at the right time, chase down any breaks, and for general mother-hen duties! As always, Nellie was also present, watching proceedings closely from the clubhouse. Much to the point-scroungers disgust, there was 13 women in total on the start-line (compared with 6 the week before!) and the standard of the field was high. Anna charged off the front with another rider early on in the race, achieved a decent gap and put the hammer down for a couple of laps, until the bunch (obviously not helped by any of us, as we tried to control the pace to help Anna stay away) finally caught up. The bunch then generally stayed together, nearly catching up with the boys, who were clearly napping, until the final lap. Charmaine had cleverly worked her way to the front and was in a good position, I had been sitting nicely on Vikki’s wheel until a few elbows made me lose some places, Anna sitting just behind me but paying the price of her exciting move earlier on. The sprint began just out of the last corner, with Charmaine managing to outsprint most of the field (in the saddle!!) for a valuable 3rd, myself being boxed in and gaining a couple of points in 8th, Anna coming in just behind at 10th and Vikki, not wanting to challenge any of us after points, rolled in relaxed at 13th. Stephen also raced and gained an excellent 3rd, moving up to 3rd Cat. Good day for Pearson Pink and Blue!


Nikki


The London Nocturne

I had been not so quietly crapping myself about this race for at least a couple of weeks, especially when the start list came out with 69 riders on it. 69!! Last year there were about 30. This year I thought it was going to be kept to 50. The quality of the field didn’t really faze me on this occasion, as I had raced most the girls at some point in the year at Team Series. I knew they were fast. I knew that in all likelihood I’d get lapped at some point. It was just a matter of when. My genuine goal of the race was not to finish last, and not to put my bike or myself into a barrier. I’ve ridden my new race bike 5 times and it’s already been repaired once. Not a good ratio.

After raining all week, at least the weather gods decided not to take the piss and put on quite a warm, and more importantly, dry day. I got there mid-afternoon to check out some of the earlier action. This was my first visit to the Nocturne, as it usually co-incided with early summer jaunts to the continent. I lost some of my nerves and got quite excited whilst watching the men’s support race. It was fast, but actually looked quite fun.

Cam Fraser was kind enough to lend me his turbo to warm up on, so Team Pink (ie. Kate and I) set up camp in the space where Team Sigma had occupied earlier in the day, right amongst the pro-team cars inbetween Raleigh and Matrix-Prendas! We had a whole host of “support crew” in the pits with us, as the sign-on staff were quite liberal in giving out wrist bands – Stephen, Char and Chris (turbo providers), Nikki (Nellie minder), Matt Statue (with his statueing box). Kate and I were both quite nervous, so thought we might as well start warming up, a good hour before the race. We’ve always wanted to feel a bit pro, but this was a bit much, with dozens of people watching us from across the road behind the barriers, some spectators even taking photos of us. I said to Kate, I wonder when they’ll realise they’re taking photos of the wrong people! During the break in proceedings, we were allowed onto the course for some warm-up laps. This was a bit surreal. We had been turboing on the back straight, and I didn’t realise just how many people were on the finishing straight. Everyone was yelling and cheering, and I saw a number of familiar faces and heard them calling out to me. I tried to keep my cool during those warm-up laps, smiling and waving at those I knew… with heart rate at 175! And this was just the warm-up.

After a last minute pee and a tiny bit more turboing, it was time to line-up at the start. Everyone had said that to have any chance at all of not being spat out the back by the first corner, you had to be at the front, so there I was, second row, crammed in like a sardine, and feeling very nervous. Someone asked if there was a sighting lap. “No” was the official’s reply. “As soon as the flag drops, go for it”. And they certainly did! I think I was passed by about 10 girls before the first corner, then another 5 or so as we sprinted out of the bottom corner. They were sooooo fast! The beginning of the race was all a bit of a blur. I pushed as hard as I could, but couldn’t manage to hang on to any real groups, but was never riding by myself. There was quite a lot of dry wretching going on, and I couldn’t even reach down for my bottle as any slowing at all would mean I lost the fast-moving wheel in front.

30min seems like an eternity when you are going at that pace! I remember looking at the lap board on a number of occasions thinking that it should surely start counting down soon (with 9 to go) I did notice lots and lots of shout outs on what seemed like every corner and straight, which did encourage me to keep pushing hard, some voices I recognised well without even seeing them, some I couldn’t quite place. I was eventually lapped by both the lead and second groups, and finished amongst some familiar faces (pink “cousins” Catherine Hills and Clare Leonard). The adrenaline was still pumping as I pulled back up to our camp on the back straight. Wow, what an awesome experience!

Results were only published for the first 31 riders, of which I wasn’t one, so I’m not sure where I ended up in the field, but it wasn’t last! Not that it mattered. It was soooo much fun!! And despite nearly losing my back wheel on a few occasions on the bottom off-camber corner trying to sprint out a little too early, I also kept off the ground and out of the barriers. Goals achieved! I’ll be signing up again next year. Will have to learn how to put the hammer down a lot harder between now and then…

Nicole

Banbury Team Series race - A hard day out

Nicole reports on Round 4 of the Women's Team Series...


I couldn’t believe it when I pulled back the curtains this morning to find winter had returned for our Team Series race – 12deg and pissing rain. Four days ago I wasn’t even going to race. There was a nasty crash on chaingang training on Tuesday night that left our team mate with, amongst other injuries, a jaw broken in 3 places and a broken larynx. I escaped relatively unscathed, just some cuts and bruises and a bung shoulder that I couldn’t lift or use very well on Wednesday – not very helpful when you’re a Physio! However, by Friday I could ride my bike, and whilst getting out of the saddle was a bit of a problem, I thought I’d just give it a go, as Team Pink’s numbers were quickly dwindling.

Nikki and I set off up the M40, with Nellie on board, in plenty of time to reccy the course. Besides some questionable road surfaces and a few potholes, it looked pretty benign… until we got to the climb. HOLY SH*T!! A road sign at the bottom read 14%, which would have been ok had it ended after the first kick up and corner, but it just kept going and going. At this point I thanked the fact I had a compact and 27 cassette, whilst Nikki reaffirmed her love for her triple. As neither of us were particularly talented at climbing, Nikki suggested it wasn’t too late to bail out and head to the nearby Bicester village for an afternoon of shopping!

Back at HQ, we met up with fellow Team Pink member Kate, signed on in the cosy warm HQ, then huddled into the car to change, being reminded of Bedford all over again. After a short warm up and race briefing, we were off. Unlike Bedford, I felt safe in the bunch today. I think everyone knew that the field would get split up as soon as we got to the first climb, so just all rode over to it nicely.

I went backwards, as I so often do on climbs. But to tell the truth, the pain really started after pushing over the top, and having to chase to get back on a group. There is nothing worse than time-trialling on your own in the wind and rain, so I worked hard to get on to a small group just ahead of me. This group caught another group, and soon after we hit the start/finish line, the group had swelled to about 15, who were working hard to chase the leading group with through and off. I was dying and struggling to come through, but somehow managed to hang on, receiving a much appreciated push from one of the other girls (not sure who) at one point when I was flagging. We caught the front bunch just as we turned the corner for round two of the 14% climb.

I lost this expanded group within about 100m, slugged up the climb, then started to chase again. This time I only picked up 3 other riders, but we worked together for almost the entire 20km-ish lap to bring us to the bottom of the climb again. I wasn’t sure I’d make it up the climb for a 3^rd time, so I just looked at my front wheel and told myself I was doing Marmotte training. A few people from the group behind passed me on the climb, but I managed to get back on at the top. It was only a few km to the finish, I sprinted up the final short sharp climb with whatever was left in my legs and came 38^th. My team mates Kate and Nikki were only a few minutes behind me.

My shoulder started hurting as soon as I stopped (gotta love adrenaline), and despite it being by far the hardest race this year, in almost the worst conditions, and finishing well down the field, I kind of enjoyed it. Nikki and I decided that we deserved a KFC stop on the way home (would never happen if Coralie was driving!), refuelling on mini-fillet burgers and chips. At least it’s an extra long weekend, so plenty of time to recover!