I thought it would be nice to get a break from doing my dissertation and get another race in the legs. After not having the best legs throughout the week in my training (most likely because of stress from uni work) I wasn’t very confident in getting a good result. So I went into this race with not the best mentality and my plan was to stick in for as long as I could, even though I had a feeling I would get dropped much earlier than I have previously done.

Luckily the race was pretty flat, and with an uphill finish so this played into my hands a little. With around 50 of us starting, I made sure to be positioned towards the front throughout the neutralised and into the early stages into the race. The pace started pretty slow, and steady, and there wasn’t much activity happening in the bunch. The bunch was pretty chatty, and no one was giving it a go off the front which I didn’t expect. However I was positioned in the top 15, ready to respond for any attacks.

Around 20k into the race (2nd lap in the race), the race began to be a lot more competitive. A few attacks occurred and I was able to respond well and maintain a good position of hanging around the top 15 at all times. The pace eased up a little before some more attacks. As the attacks were not sticking, the bunch eased up again. Suddenly our race had to be stopped around halfway into the race due to riders riding on the wrong side of the road. The race then restarted, and I was a bit worried about any attacks kicking off straight away, as this happened in the last race and I lost touch of the front group as my legs went pretty stiff. Luckily the pace remained steady for a good 15 minutes before the attacks started to kick off again. This second half of the race, the field became a lot more active. Lots of attacks and counter attacks, particularly from riders from FTP Racing and London Academy. Although the race became very fast, I found myself still sitting in the top 15, which I was pretty shocked with as I was still in the main group.

With one lap to go, we had a close encounter with a car on the top of a climb, and a rider had no choice but to cut in front of me, forcing me to lose some momentum. I unfortunately lost the group, and the elastic had snapped. I found two other riders to work with and chase back on. We had a small group of 5 riders just in front, then we could just about see the main group. At one point the group was out of sight, and I doubted I would be able to chase back on. However, after 6km of chasing and working together with the other rider, we lost a rider from our small group and we managed to rejoin the front group.

A feeling of relief, I was back in contention for a good result. At this point there was roughly 20 riders left in our group, so I was already pleased to be still with the reduced group. We had around 10k to go so my focus was to move up closer to the front, and refuel and recover to prepare for the finish. The pace was still pretty quick, but it remained steady apart from the occasional dig on some sections of the course. With 500 metres to go, I was positioned towards the back of the bunch, not ideal. At this point, I had to try and make up places where I could and try and overtake as many riders as I could.

With 300 metres to go, a couple of riders went on to the wrong side of the road and made an early start for the sprint finish. Unfortunately this was badly timed for me as there was a camper van that was also coming towards us, but once the van went passed I had some more room to use. I managed to overtake at least 10 riders, which I didn’t expect and I was gradually catching up with the riders just in front. I crossed the line in 10th place, which I was very surprised to have finished in.

Overall, I was really happy with how I raced, from not only from the physical aspect but also with the technical aspect. My legs felt better on the day which I was pleased with and I could see an improvement in my sprinting too. I felt that my positioning in the bunch was much better and I was consistently towards the front. This result gave me a good confidence boost in my training.

Amy Harvey

London Dynamo Road Race, 11 May 2025

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