European Cross Duathlon Championships, 20 Sep 2022

After doing a recon of both runs and the bike, I knew it was going to be a hard day out. The course was either up or down. The bike course was by far the best I have so far come across in a duathlon, filled with fun technical descent. The race started in the hottest part of the day, which I normally find difficult but seemed to struggle with a lot more today. I began struggling with the heat halfway up the long climb on the first run and slowly began slipping backwards down the field. On the descent back to transition, I began catching back up and finding my legs a little bit and came into transition 4th in my age group.

I got on the bike which again headed straight back up hill and I could really feel the effect the first run had on my legs and back. I kept plodding along up the hill with the joys of the descent to come keeping me going. The descent started off as a wide twisty fire road and my legs began to feel a little bit better. The descent then got to the fun part of the technical single track, however, I'd began catching some of the older men that had set off ahead of us and one was walking down the descent just after a blind corner. A marshal shouted him over to the side however it was a little too late and I collided with him and went over the bars. Luckily there wasn’t too much damage to me or the bike. I split a little bit of a scar from earlier in the year open and the mech hanger on my bike was bent, meaning I couldn’t use my easiest gears (something that was very much going to be needed on the second lap). Although my bike or I wasn’t in an ideal condition, the second lap seemed to pass a little faster. This time I rode down all the descents without crashing into another competitor!

On the way back into transition as I was taking off my shoes, I got a short episode of cramp in my hip flexors which meant I only got one shoe off in time for the dismount line, so I hobbled around transition with blood running down my shin and one shoe on my foot whilst the other was still attached to my bike!

I was well and truly sore by this point, and I was starting to feel the full effects of the crash. The second run also set off uphill and gradually got steeper until you reached the top. I was starting to go stiff with the swelling and bruising on my knee and hip so I hobbled up the hill but coming down was a different story. The descent was just as steep and I ran down the hill significantly faster than I went up, not by choice just the lack of strength I had left in my legs.

I crossed the line 4th in my age group and 13th female overall. Not quite what I came for but I can leave feeling satisfied due to the couple of mishaps and how 2 months ago I would’ve seriously struggled getting round a course so demanding.

Kim Baptista