Bovingdon Bomber 2/3/4, Hoghill Crit, 16 & 17 Jun 2021
On Wednesday night I was back at the Bovingdon Bomber circuit for another evening of the women’s cat 2/3/4 racing. As there were many cat 2s I knew this race was going to be fast and blow to bits so I positioned myself at the front of the start line and hoped I would get clipped in quickly. This was a success and I was second from front going into the hairpin and I managed to keep this position for the first 2 laps. The race started getting quicker so I sat in the middle of the bunch to get pulled along. I knew this race was going split very soon so I needed to be sheltered but close to the front. The race split up but not as much as expected but I kept calm and stayed close to the front and kept sheltered. There was a prime lap (I didn’t make top 5 so no points) which really split up the race, but I was still in the front pack with the leaders. We carried on going with a couple of riders attacking here and there but none stuck. With 2 laps to go I started moving closer to the front of the bunch ready for the sprint. One lap to go we got the bell and I was happy with my bunch position and felt I had a good chance of making top 5! Sadly, as the sprint started I tried to go through an open gap but the rider in front closed it as I was coming through so I had to brake and build up my momentum again with only 100 metres to go. I rolled in at 9th place which I was really pleased with considering I was the youngest rider on the start line and I (and 1 other rider) was still on restricted gears!
The next day I raced at my favourite circuit, Hog Hill, for the East London Velo Crits. This race was going to be more of a challenge because of several factors: it was a cat 1/2/3 race, tougher course than Wednesday (Bovingdon is flat but Hog Hill has a big hill!), I raced the evening before, plus the weather was grim. There were around 13 women on the start line and just as we were set off the rain decided it would be fun to absolutely pour down! Just like on Wednesday, I knew this race will blow to pieces because of the hill and some riders raced at Bovingdon with me the night before so their legs were probably tired like mine. After the first 5 laps, there was a group of 6 of us in the leading bunch- many people dropped off the group and others had punctures! We kept pushing for the rest of the hour and we pretty much just got on with it- even when we couldn’t see a thing on the descent. Suddenly we had 1 lap to go and I was satisfied with my position in the bunch, ready for the sprint. The sprint started earlier than normal and I just didn’t have the legs to for the last 30 metres but I crossed the line in 6th place, which I was both really surprised and happy with!
Amy Harvey
