Reading CC Streatley Hill Climb, 16 Sep 2023

Streatley Hill Climb hosted by Reading CC was my first hill climb of the season and first cycling race in months. Given my lack of training over summer due to illness I went into the race quite nervous. However my plan was to use this race as a base from which to gauge my fitness level and build off for the rest of the season.

I recced the course the morning of the race having never seen or raced it before. I was excited as it was the 2020 National Hill Climb course but short and steep is not my forte.

After a decent warm up and a chance to catch up with some university friends also racing, I was on the start line. I set off hard and almost immediately knew I’d made a mistake. I was sitting way above my power goal and given I was ill in the lead up to the race my heart rate couldn’t get up to normal levels despite it feeling really hard. I tried to drop the power a bit and find a more sustainable pacing but this didn’t particularly work and led to a downward power curve with a slight sprint finish.

I enjoyed the race (type two fun) and, as the photos show, I definitely gave it my all but in future I need to think much more about pacing strategy and when to push the power.

I was happy to come away with 7th out of 18 women in a time of 03:46 and looking forward to my next hill climb next week!

Maddie Angwin