Cuppers 10m TT, 4 Mar 2023

Cuppers is one of the most enjoyable races of the year for me. It’s Cambridge University Cycling Club’s (CUCC) intercollegiate 10-mile TT where everyone comes and races for their college. Run on Bottisham’s out and back course, on the first week of March (when the weather is inevitably awful) this race is not renowned for speed.

It was my first race on the TT bike so that in itself was exciting, even if the crosswind conditions meant that the bike wasn’t utilised to its full potential. My start was slightly shaky as I was in too big a gear and had to haul myself off the start line. However, after that I quickly got into position and started to focus. The course is tough as there is a deceptively draggy motorway bridge that kills any speed and is mentally quite draining as it’s so early in the race. I had hoped to get up there a little faster but I was only as good as my legs on the day. The rest of the race was fairly unremarkable but I was happy to cross the line warmer than when I started and with a time of 26:34. Although this wasn’t an overall PB, which I had been hoping for, it was still 2 minutes faster than the time I had put down the year before making it a PB for the course. I was happy to come second and have room for improvement later on in the season.

Maddie Angwin