Hoghill Crit, 1 Jun 2023

I was looking forward to doing a midweek race at my local circuit, Hoghill. Sadly there was only two of us in the women’s field so we were combined with the men’s cat 3/4 race. I didn’t expect to keep up with the men, especially for the whole race, so my aim was to stick with them for as long as I could and try to get a gap ahead of the other woman and keep the gap. I also wanted to do this race just for some fun, plus being combined with the men’s race would be a tough workout for me too.

I had a good start and was positioned well on the first lap. It was quick as I expected. Gaps were opening and closing quicker than typically in the womens race, so I often wasn’t in a good position. I managed to stick with the mens lead group for 10 minutes, then my matches were blown. In those 10 minutes we were averaging around 25mph - the quickest I have done on that course - not bad considering how hilly the circuit is. I had gained half a lap ahead of the other woman (roughly 2 min advantage), so I decided to solo TT to keep the gap. The wind gradually got stronger so it was hard going on my own.

With 5 laps lap to go, I caught up with the other woman, and lapped her. Mentally this was a relief as I had hoped to gain a lap. I decided to keep pushing for the final 5 laps and increase the gap a bit more. I managed to secure the win, which I was really pleased with.

Despite the women’s field only having 2 of us on the line, I still had a challenging race, the men’s race was definitely very fast, so it was a good workout too.

Amy Harvey