Bath CC & Cardiff Ajax hill climbs, 10 & 17 Oct 2021

Bath Cycling Club hill climb (‘The Hell of North Road’) was an absolute blast. 

I recce’d the course the day before which at the very least gave me some sort of familiarity come the race. 

I climbed in 4:41 which landed me 8th out of 11 ladies. Perhaps not a result to boast about but admittedly I was rather impressed by the calibre of female riders and their bikes at this event. It was great to be part of a hill climb race that attracted such a strong field of women, which certainly isn’t the case often enough!

Moreover, I think the reason why hill climbs are so worthwhile is that they are a particularly good opportunity to evaluate your own performance over a short and somewhat controlled effort. Not least, the opportunity to compare your times to last year’s, or even the previous month, week, or day. And of course, with the cyclist community cheering you on as you make it to the top utterly exhausted but satisfyingly so, before sharing the sense of achievement with your competitors at the end.

I was pleased with the power I was able to sustain up the climb, and how I was able to ‘empty the tank’ over a short space of time under pressure! A downfall was not knowing the course well, which perhaps could have lost me some time. For example, the finish line appeared rather suddenly so I probably could have gone harder earlier. However I will bear that in mind for next year’s event as I’ll certainly be back to try and beat this year’s time and reflect on the gains I will make in 2022!

I actually felt quite lucky to have a second hill climb in the calendar just a week following my first of the season. These unique events always leave me with quite a buzz, owing to the cameraderie and sense of achievement that comes with emptying the tank on a climb, then supporting fellow cyclists in doing the same! As soon as I had recovered after crossing the line at Bath HC, I couldn’t wait for the next! 

Unlike at Bath, I did know the climb this time as it is fairly local to me in Caerphilly, South Wales. My club, Cardiff Ajax, was also hosting the event so it was fantastic to support and be supported by my fellow club members.

Coach Tim had helped me reflect on my performance the week before, and had given me some excellent guidance on technique on hill climb events that I was so thankful for. I managed to smash my PB on the climb from just trying it out a couple of weeks previously. We spoke about sprinting off the line without setting off too fast and riding in vs riding out of the saddle with regards to power and efficiency. I was delighted that I could put some technique into practice.

I was first female, although with only two other female entries, I was nevertheless pleased with my performance which will no doubt benchmark more progress to come.

Lucy Hoade