My first season of road racing
I entered my first race almost a year ago, on 10th October, and I was pretty nervous to say the least! The next 4 races were not fun – I found it hard, I was getting dropped early on and dropped out of quite a few races (each race consisted of 3x15 min races due to covid). Safe to say, I hated it!
Fast forward a year – I am now 14 points away from a 2nd Cat licence and loving it.
After dipping my toe in the water in 2020 and hating it, I decided to jump straight back into racing in 2021 – because that’s what you do, right?
In February I had a bike fit. This was a real game changer for me. It took approximately 3 hours and I came out with properly fitting shoes, a new stem, a new saddle, seat lowered and a more aggressive position to help me with aerodynamics.
In March, Tim became my coach. I have always tried to be as consistent as I can with training. Some weeks have been better than others but overall, I’ve been able to maintain a constant approach to my training. Little by little I have started to see improvements, some big, some small but always on the upwards trajectory.
Coaching has been key in helping me to develop as an athlete and improve my skills in racing. I have always been a person that thrives on structure – this is what helps me to stay motivated.
Hillingdon in April was my first race and as expected, I was dropped after 10 mins. Feeling demoralised and annoyed, I entered races every single weekend for the whole season as punishment. I was absolutely determined to be able to race and NOT get dropped. It’s no fun riding on your own.
The season has been an interesting journey with plenty of highs and some low points. I stuck with it hanging onto each success in the races I was competing. Even the races where I had made mistakes, getting into the mindset to take positives away from it has really helped me.
Slowly but surely, I started to move up. I started the season finishing 25th, I’m ending the season finishing 4th, 5th, 6th…. The last 4 races have all been top ten positions and the season isn’t over just yet!
It’s not been easy and sometimes life has, on occasions, got in the way of training or racing but I think it’s safe to say I’m starting to get the hang of it and I’m enjoying it. I feel more confident on the bike, I can corner efficiently and understand the art of race craft. Being as consistent as I can with training has been important to my development. I feel stronger, more confident – after all, success breeds success!
Looking back at the photos from my first race to my (almost) last race the difference is quite noticeable. The first photo I don’t look comfortable (I wasn’t) and I am sat rigid. The second photo I look much more comfortable and, in the flow.
Next year’s goals are to try and get my 2nd Category licence if it doesn’t happen this year, try to aim for some national races (eek!) and maybe (just maybe) bag a win????
In summary, it’s been tough. Previously I have not been confident, and my lack of confidence has really held me back. I have learned so much about race craft, conserving energy, reading the race, stalking opponents (obviously a key element of racing is to know who you’re racing against 😊), bike handling skills, understanding where I am stronger and have an advantage over the others – cornering and descending seems to be a (useful) strength, learning what I am not so good at (hills and sprints) and to work on this. And I have learned so much about myself and what I can do when I put my mind, heart and soul (aka blood, sweat and tears) into it.
I am excited to see what the next 12 months are going to give to me.
Next stop = Cyclo-cross racing…. Reports to follow
Laura Powell