Redbridge (Hoghill) Women's Circuit Race, 17 Apr 2021

On Saturday I entered my first women’s race at Redbridge (aka Hoghill) which turned out to be really enjoyable. This race was a handicapped race where the cat 4s were set off first and then the cats 3s (my category) were set off with the cat 1s and 2s.

I couldn’t get my foot clipped in quick enough and there was an attack from the gun, as a result, I missed following the important move! I was in a group of six where we were together until the first climb. This was when I decided to attack and try to chase down three of the riders that were in the break up the road. I managed to get away from the group I was in apart from one that followed on my attack, however I could not get to the girls in front, because they were more powerful than me on the flat circuit. From then on I decided to work with the rider I was with to keep away from the other group and to try and catch up with the front group. We didn’t catch up with the winning group but I managed to win our sprint up the final climb, and finish 18th overall (including the cat 1/2/3/4s, 6th in cat 3 (my category) and 🥉 in the juniors- I did not expect that! 😀).

Amy Harvey