BUCS 25m TT, 26 Mar 2023

BUCS 25 was the first race I did for Cambridge University Cycling Club (CUCC) last year. It was incredibly tough but such a great experience that it convinced me to start training and focusing on racing a bit more seriously. That said I came into BUCS 25 this year quite nervous. The race was on the same course as last year, the ‘Botty’ (Bottisham) Triangle, E33/25. The course started fast with the longest stretch having a tailwind. However, the next slightly lumpy, fairly exposed section was a cross wind and then the hardest draggy section had a headwind which made that section disconcertingly slow.

After a rather wet, cold and slow ride out I was not feeling particularly warm on the start line but once I was off the thoughts of my freezing feet quickly disappeared. I think I paced the race well, if perhaps a little too extreme, focusing on taking the hard sections hard and easy sections easy. Due to the windiness and lumpiness of the Botty triangle I think this approach worked really well and saved me from going too far into the red early on. I also managed to pace it quite well, with almost the same average speed for the first and second laps. I was really pleased to cross the line in 01:04:54, which is a new 25 mile PB, a season goal achieved and 5 minutes faster than my time last year!

A massive thank you to Tim for coming to support and take photos. Seeing him round the course really helped me to pace my race quite consistently and not ease off when it got hard!

Maddie Angwin