Women's Team Cup, Berkhamsted, 25 Jul 2021

Sunday was my first ever road race and I had mixed feelings about it going into it. It was my first ever proper road race so I had no idea what to expect. This race was also the Women’s Team Cup event, so there was a very strong field and I’ve never raced as a team before - you don’t get to do much team racing when you are a youth or junior. I was also racing for a team that I’ve not even heard of so this could go either way! The road race was 50 miles long and we had to race on a 4.5 mile course which we had to do 12 laps of with primes on laps 4 and 6. After recceing the course there were potholes, poor surfaces and a short but steep climb just before the finish. 

I did my warm up with the team to get some quick “team bonding” and to meet the other riders. We had a 3 mile neutralised ride from the Mentmore village hall to the beginning of the course. The first lap was crazy, a big bunch of 60 riders all wanting the same position. The pace was just full out and the bunch strung out so quick. I was in a bad position as I was close to the back but it was impossible to move up the bunch, especially when you’re trying to avoid the potholes and gravel on the inside line. On the second lap, I thought the group would ease up as riders would want to slow down because we still had a long way to go to the finish. But this wasn’t the case, they just kept going flat out and by the time we got to the hill on the second time I lost the group and started having trouble with my asthma. I eventually got my breathing back to normal and was time trialling it on my own hoping that I could catch up with some riders in front. After a lap solo, a group of 3 riders passed me and told them to jump on to their wheel so we could work together. So I took their word and we worked together in a TTT sort of way. We were doing really well working together, the pace was fast and consistent and we caught up with 2 other riders in the distance too! After spending 2 laps with the group I did a turn on the hill and I put the pressure on to test how everyone was feeling. A couple of the girls started to drop off and the other girl was just hanging on to my wheel. We regrouped at the top of the climb and 2 laps after I put the pressure on again. This time they were not in sight so I kept going and chased down a rider I saw in the distance. This rider was a teammate (for today) so we worked together for a lap and again, I dropped her- I didn’t realise I did this. She wasn’t in sight so I just kept going and ended up solo for the next 3 laps. My legs was starting to ache and there were no riders near me. I got lapped by the peloton and one of my other teammates even did a massive attack! The group got away from me quickly so I was back to riding solo. With 2 laps to go I was pulled off the course but I was glad to have finished 38th with 60 women on the start list. 

Overall, I did make a couple of mistakes. I should have moved up sooner and stuck with it for a bit longer. This was the most challenging race I have ever done- physically and mentally but I was happy to have finished. The result was good for my first ever road race, especially as I was asked to do this race 3 days in advance.

Amy Harvey