Capernwray Cold Dark North Road Race, 12 Mar 2023

I went into this race knowing I’d probably struggle a lot. The start list was packed with good climbers and last year this race was far from a good one (I got spat at the base of the climb on the very first lap). 

In the days leading up to the race it wasn’t clear if the race would go ahead because of the snowy and icy conditions. It was still very cold and breezy, but the roads were clear of snow and ice. I mis-timed the start of my warm up so didn’t get to complete it all but with the length of the riders briefing I don’t really think this had too much of an effect. 

The race began neutralised through the village where we then joined the course and headed up the hill to the finish where the neutralised section ended. To begin with the pace was very high, helped by a tail wind and a slight negative gradient but as soon as we hit the narrow country lane it eased off slightly. Then we made our way to the climb up towards the finish. There was never going to be an easy time up the hill because on all 6 laps there were QOM points up for grabs, so I made sure I was positioned well, close to the front but not on the front to make sure I had plenty of sliding room. To my surprise I felt good going up the climb and I made it over in the front group.

For the next couple of laps the racing pattern stayed similar - fast down the hill, ease off a little, the hard up the climb. All the time riders were being shed out the back. The third time up the climb a group of 3 girls put in a big dig. I slowly began to drift back in the group and coming over the top there was a slight gap between me and the group, but this was closed quickly with the help of another rider. Two riders managed to escape and both riders had a fair few teammates so the peloton got completely shut down. My legs were really starting to feel it at this point so it helped me too in a way. Their gap grew to roughly 2 minutes and on the way up the climb to the bell another two riders broke away making it four up the road. Then going along the narrow country lane, the main group split, and I found myself in the second half. Coming up the hill the last time to the line my legs completely blew up. I’m not sure what position I ended up but I can be very satisfied that it was much better than last year’s attempt at this race.

Kim Baptista