Year Finale

With university in full swing and life returning to some form of routine with training, studying and a ‘small’ bit of socialising, my mind had slipped far from the 2015 racing year and was solidly thinking forward to next season. So when I was asked by the university to race the British University and College Sports (BUCS) Hill Climb Championships in Yorkshire I was initially apprehensive on two counts, one I hadn't been doing much race/short interval training and two, I'm not a big fan of hills. But the boys in the cycling club soon convinced me round to the idea and I decided to throw myself head first into my first (hopefully of many) BUCS events. I also had decided to ride the Scottish Team Time Trial Championships the following day in Fife, which meant it would be a tight turn around from racing in England on the Saturday to racing in Scotland first thing on the Sunday. 

As preparation for the race, and, well cause I love cyclo-cross, I decided to race the opening round of the Scottish Cyclo-Cross Series at Callendar Park in Falkirk. I loved the course at

On the start line at Callendar Park

this round last year and this year’s course only bettered last year. I wasn't sure what to expect from my legs but I decided to just race my heart out and see where it got me. I was lucky to be gridded to the front line along with several other strong riders including Anne Ewing, who having been in the Scotland team for the past 2 Commonwealth Games was odds on in my eyes to have a fast start and a good race. And I was right she did win the race!

The race start was on a fast tarmac section and I got off the line in around 5th or 6th. The first few laps were a bit of a blur as I pushed on and tried to dig in on as many sections of the course as possible, but I had started to fade a bit towards the second half of the race. With one lap to go I had two of the other women just in front of me and I put in a big effort of the final short climb to get past them before a technical set of tight switch back before a final flat set of corners and sprint to the line. I managed to just stay in front of the other two riders until the line and finished 12th women overall and 1st Under 18. Even better news was that my team mate Eleanor had come 2nd in the Under 18s so got to fly the Edinburgh Road Club flag on 1st and 2nd steps of the podium!

After this I had two weeks to get ready for my last weekend of road racing of the 2015 road season. After a good first week (which also did include some of the ‘little’ bit of socializing) I unfortunately got a cold. As a precautionary measure I took it easy in the week and only went for a short spin to trying and stop my cold developing, which sort of worked. I was off at 12.07 on the Saturday and we had a 6+ hour drive to the race, so the uni team and I headed down on the Friday afternoon to Glossop to stay the night before the Hill-Climb which was taking place up the Curbar Gap in the Peak District. The weather on the Saturday morning was not promising and it rained on off all day including during my warm up, which did make riding the rollers a bit tricky… After not falling off in my warm up I headed to the start with a lot of nerves and inhibitions about the 2kms of climbing at an average of 11% that was ahead of me. The boys had given me some tips for riding the hill but by half way up no advice on lines or where to push on mattered as I was going flat out just to keep climbing. As I turned the right hand hairpin I knew (or I'd been told) I was almost at the finish and with a large group of supporter gathered in a lay-by I put in a final dig to the line. It was safe to say I was pretty tired after crossing the line and had to ask one of the helper to catch me as I wasn't sure I would be able to get my foot out my cleats without falling over… And yes I was moving so slowly that could have happened… 

After catching my breath I headed back down the hill to do a short cool down in an attempt to save my legs for the Team Time Trial the following day, then put on all the clothes I'd brought with me and headed up the hill to support the other riders, especially the 3 boys racing from St Andrews. As the boys racing went on the weather slowly got colder and wetter but spirits were high as the St As boys (when they'd finished) and I joined the Sheffield University crowd of supporters that had gather on the hillside.

After all the riders were done we headed down to the race HQ, i.e. the local pub, to find out the results. Unsurprisingly the women’s race was won by Hayley Simmonds, representing Cambridge University. She had just returned from representing Great Britain at the Elite Womens World Time Trial and Road Championships in the USA. I had finished 37th, but my goals for the race were to post a sub 10 minute time and I had managed that and as the youngest competitor, I was pretty happy with my position. The boys seemed pretty happy with their placings too, Liam had achieved his goal of top half of the field in 69th place, Andrew went faster than last year and Clem (also a first year) made a solid base to improve on in future years. After we'd all warmed up a bit we headed to the van to pack up and hit the road for the drive home to St Andrews. The hours tumbled by, probably due to me having a sleep, and we arrived back just after midnight. 

After lugging all my stuff into my already messy bedroom in halls I collapsed into bed welcoming all the sleep I could get before my 7.30am start the following day. In an amazing bit of luck that was also the night the clocks went back by an hour so I got an extra hour of precious sleep!

My parents had arranged to come and pick me up from St Andrews the following morning and after a quick breakfast we headed of the race. After we arrived at the race HQ in the quiet town of Freuchie I headed to sign on and squeezed in a small warm up on the turbo before Rae, Jane and I headed as a team for the race start. As we rolled to the start we had a quick tactics talk and agreed that Rae was by far the strongest member of the team and so she would set the pace and Jane and I would help out were possible. The course was pretty much ideally suited to me as a rider with a mix of fast flat sections and rolling roads which could be powered up and with a final longer climb before a fast decent to the finish. 

We started out fast as Rae pushed on the speed, I very surprised that I was managing to keep up in Rae's slipstream and felt good for the first 20kms out of the 50km race. After this point I knew it'd be tough but I was determined to push to the limit and try my best for the team. Riding on my junior restricted gears meant I had to focus on spinning my legs as fast as possible to stop myself being dropped on any descents. But I held on and managed till the

photo courtesy of the Press Room

final climb and knowing we were close to the finished gave it my all to stay with the others. After we'd finished we rolled back to HQ and enjoyed the spread put on by the organisers. The food after a TT is always a treat and there were plentiful amounts of tea, so I was content.

We had a nervous wait for results as we speculated about how we'd managed, thinking we'd maybe been 3rd or 4th in the women’s field. As the results were announced, I was absolutely ecstatic to find out we'd been 3rd fastest team and 2nd in the Scottish Championships (as one of the teams wasn't eligible for the championships). I was extra proud of the result because this was the only opportunity I'd had to ride as a team for Edinburgh Road Club all season so that made it special. 

After the race and a nice lunch and a proper catch up with my parents about my past few weeks of life away from home I headed back to St Andrews looking forward to crawling back into bed… but alas laundry needed done… Student life is hard you know!

The weekend had been a long one but I was happy with my results and look forward to more opportunities to represent my university. It was also a nice way to bring my 2015 season to a close, so now I can properly begin preparation for next season. I have a few people to thank for their continued support throughout this season, and over the weekend. Mainly my parents, who even though I've 'flown the nest' still help me out whenever possible and have got up at unnatural hours countless times this year, so thank you both!! Secondly everyone given me the fantastic opportunities I've had, including Peter Clark, Tim Mackley and Statoil for helping me to experience international racing for the first time in Norway over the summer, (see previous post). My team, Edinburgh Road Club, and the sponsors and supporters of the Junior Race Team have also been massively influential in my racing this year as without their funding and support I wouldn't have been able to travel and race as much as I have. Lastly everyone who has believed in me over this year, as it's not been an easy one, so thank you one and all!