TTs, Exams, Championships and Only 1 Crash

Been a while since my last update, so thought I'd do a small post about the last few months racing. After a good week of training in Mallorca at the end of March it was back to uni and final preparations for exams in May. Due to exams I wasn't racing much until the end of May but I still managed to get a few races in.

The first was the St Helens CRC Bickerstaffe road race, I had raced at Bickerstaffe before and really liked the circuit. Its relatively flat squareish shaped circuit with a fast finish. It was my first race since

Leading the bunch

my crash on the track so I was a little nervous about being back in a bunch so I took the first few laps to just ease myself back in. The race had a few attacks but I managed to just sit in a follow the moves and was feeling pretty good entering the last few laps. With two laps left I moved up and was sitting in the front of the group. Coming into the straight before the finish line on the last lap there was a bit of a cross wind and so rides were overlapping slightly over most of the road. Suddenly a rider in front of me on the far left of the road decided to move to the right and collided with another rider who veered right and crashed, I then went straight into that rider and over the bars and onto my face… And so now I have matching scars on my chin and a new section of road rash right on top of the newly formed skin on my leg from the last crash.

Luckily for me the paramedics at the race were able to patch me up and saved me from having to take another trip to a random English A&E.

Unfortunately, unlike the last crash I didn't have 2 weeks holiday to recover so I was up first thing on Monday for a 6 hour day of lectures and labs, which when you can't stand on one leg very well tends to make things uncomfortable. After two heavy crashes I was a little nervous about getting back on the bike but after a few gentle riders with the uni boys I started to feel more confident on the bike again.

Borthwick 1-2 at the Scottish Students TT Champs

My next race was the BUCS 25 mile TT in Oxford, I've been doing a lot of time trail this year and this was my 2nd 25 mile TT so I was really happy to do a 5 minute PB on what was admittedly a very fast course. After that I had the Scottish Students 10 Mile TT Champs in Freuchie were I finished 2nd followed by the Scottish 10 Mile TT Champs were I finished 3rd Junior. The latter was the day before my first university exam so for the next two weeks, bike riding was on hold temporarily. I am happy to say however, exams went well and I found out this week I successfully passed all my exams!

After exams I only had a few days to try and find my racing legs again before the Scottish Road Race Championships on the 22nd of May, the race was a tough one with a hilly and slightly confusing course. I was nervous about the race as there was both multiple Commonwealth Games riders and

Womens Race Start- Photo: Robert

Olympic hopefuls in the race. The first 8kms of the 33km lap were all climbing followed by a descent into a sharp left turn followed by more decent and a left turn at about 15kms where the course started to climb again, after this it was pretty rolling the whole way to the finish. I made it to this point on the first lap of 2 but as the bunch hit the corner an attack went and I couldn't hold the pace and slipped off the back. The rest of the race was a solo effort to finish. I wasn't expecting much from the race so I'm happy with 26th overall and 4th junior considering I was nowhere near race fitness.

After the champs I was lucky to have the opportunity to go back to Mallorca for a week to get my

fitness back and attempt to get a tan with the lovely sunshine. After I got back I had two races the coming up the Scottish 25 Mile TT Champs on Saturday the 4th June and ERC womens race, Tour de Gladhouse on Sunday the 5th. This didn't last long as the Scottish 25 Mile TT Champs were cancelled a few days before the race due to road works.

The Tour de Gladhouse was a round of the Scottish Womens Series and the first womens road race run by my own club that I've been able to race. The race was run on a tough 21km loop with nearly 1000m of climbing in the whole race. We raced over 4 laps so by the end, including the neutral zone the race was 90kms long. We rolled out of Eddleston just after 11am in glorious sunshine and as we had to ride the final climb to the finish in the neutral zone I made sure I was up front to make it as easy as possible and so I could get a clear run into the right hand turn off the main road. I stuck in the bunch for most of the first lap but lost out on the fast rolling section on the main road from Howgate to the Leadburn junction. I then formed a 3 rider group with Jess Millar and Emma MacLaren both riders from Johnstone Wheelers and we stuck together for the remaining 3 laps working well together. The race was the longest race I've done and I think the longest of the Scottish womens races. This combined with the climbing and heat made it a long day in the saddle, so I'm very proud of my team mate Eleanor Strathdee who finished 25th, it was her first road race on open roads and despite dropping her chain multiple times and having to ride on her own for parts of the race, she pushed on and even out-sprinted someone on the final climb to the finish!

I'd like to thank ERC for putting on the race and for all the club members who volunteered to help, it was so nice to race and have all the marshals cheering you on at every corner! I hope this start a long tradition of womens road races run by ERC!

Now I've moved back home to Edinburgh and getting my head down with training, I'm happy to say I've again been selected to ride in the Arctic Tour of Norway Hereos of Tomorrow Race, this year taking place in Bodø in August. This race will be one of my main aims for the season and I'm very excited for the opportunity and hope to better my performance from last year. In the short time I have a few crit races over the next few weeks and a road race down south at the end of the month. A big thank you to all the Junior teams sponsors as I would really struggle to manage all my racing without there support!

Sprint Finishes and Face Plants

The last few months of winter training have really flown by and the start of the 2016 season has really snuck up on me! But before talking about that, I’m happy to say I have been selected for the St Andrews University Individual Performance Programme.  This is a real privilege and it gives me great opportunities such as strength and conditioning sessions and funding to help me achieve some of my goals for the year.

Unfortunately since my last post I’ve also been ill lots, the end of October and start of November were almost completely written off by a lymph gland the size of a golf ball and an extended course of antibiotics (ughh gross I know!). After recovering I launched back into training only to hit my end of term exams.  The riding took a back seat as the books came out. I’m happy to say I passed my exams - so obviously it worked!

The Christmas break was about training and adventuring, the latter by hitchhiking to Budapest for charity. (Got there – took 3 days and very little sleep) I went back to uni feeling good and excited for the term ahead.  And then I got ill again… Even more unfortunately I got ill on the weekend of the World Cyclo-Cross Championships, which my awesome parents took the whole family and my CX-mad friend Eleanor to as a treat for my 18^th birthday. Despite being ill, the whole weekend was unbelievably exciting but in true CX tradition it poured with rain.  This didn’t impact on the atmosphere, which was electric and these Belgian crowds really know how to party! Being so close to some of my sporting heroes was amazing and I did scream my head off when Mathieu Van Der Poel went past every lap. After two days of standing in the cold, the glamorous life continued as we got back to Edinburgh at around 11pm on the Sunday night and I was up at 6.30am on the Monday to get my train back to St Andrews for 3 hours of lectures, 3 hours of labs and a tutorial. Ah well I did choose this life, and I’m loving it!

After I shifted that cold, thankfully without any drugs this time, I pushed on with a hard month of training and was feeling like I was making progress as my first race approached.

Some of the beautiful scenery in Fife

The season opened in a similar fashion to last year with the St Helens CRC Pimbo Road Race, round an industrial estate in Skelmersdale. The circuit was 3kms long with the women’s race being 18 laps.  Around 60 riders signed on and the field was a really strong one with the UCI level women’s team, Drops Race Team, teams from the British domestic scene and GB Breeze riders to name a few.  

I always like to arrive at races in plenty of time so when mum and I arrived at sign on just before 10 it gave me two hours to get from sign on to the circuit, sort my kit and warm up. As we had plenty of time mum decided to provided some light entertainment whilst trying to park the van on the muddy verge on the finishing straight… I wont say much more but we did end up taking bets on how many people would be needed to push the van back onto the road…. I won the bet with 6!

All smiles on the start line!

On the start line, the sun was shining and I managed to get on to the front line so got a clean start when

the race got underway. The first lap was, I will admit, a bit scary as I had a massive near crash as the bunch flexed in size and the riders on either side of me both squeezed me causing my bars to get caught under the arm of the rider on my right, we both had a huge wobble but held it but I then got pinged to the left and my front quick release clanged off the frame of the rider on my left. Luckily through adrenaline and speed we all stayed upright and pedaled on. 

The laps ticked by and suddenly there was a mass surge up the finishing straight as we entered the first of two prime laps. I knew these sharp changes in pace could put me in trouble but I felt strong and stuck in the bunch fine during both the prime laps. The race really lit up and there were people pinging off the front every lap but nobody could get any distance on the bunch due to the number of teams with riders prepared to chase down attacks.

Race face going strong- Photo Credit: Daniel Styler

With 4/5 laps to go we were all together and I started to move forward while still sheltering in the wheels as much as possible. Then with 2 laps to go I spotted the Drops team starting a lead out for Lucy Shaw (the winner of the race), and well, who would turn down a free ride to the finish on the back of a UCI team lead out train. So I followed them as they moved forward and on the last lap as we turned left onto the long finishing straight I was starting to have to push it just to follow the wheels. As the sprint opened up I got pushed into the gutter a little but kicked hard up the little finishing rise to get every last bit of strength out before I hit the line. It was my first women’s bunch sprint finish and the buzz I had afterwards was incredible! I was so over the moon to have been up the front at the end of the race and I suspected a top 15-20^th finish. It was only the next day, when I saw the finish video and official result, that I saw that I had finished 10^th!  The result means a lot to me as last year’s Pimbo was my first ever road race and I got dropped and lapped. This year I knew I was fitter and stronger but the field was also a higher caliber and a top 10 finish was not something I thought possible.

Pimbo Finish- Photo Credit: Daniel Styler

My next race was last weekend, representing my university at the British University and College Sport (BUCS) Track Championships.

As I hadn’t raced on the track for about 18 months, I was a bit nervous as I headed south with the Edinburgh University team.  The journey was entertaining with chaotic diversions, cars getting lost and a queue on the motorway for the last mile before the hotel. Crawled into bed 11.30pm and was very glad of a lateish start of 8am the following day.

On Saturday I had the 3km pursuit and then the 500m TT, followed by the elimination and points race on Sunday. The first stressful time of the weekend came when my headset came apart in my hands, as I tried to change my stem/handlebars. Following some mad running around asking everyone and anyone to help, the nice guys at Evans sorted the issue and I was back on track with just enough time to calm myself down and warm up for my pursuit.

As is the style with track racing we were behind schedule so the organisers cut the length of the pursuit to 2.5kms so only 10 laps of suffering! I was a bit shaky off the start but I settled into my ride and felt ok.  Then I heard a roar of encouragement as I came into one of the straights. I was fully aware that this wasn’t for me as the rider I was against whooshed past me. This was, I must admit a little disheartening, but as this rider went on to win the whole event I didn’t feel too bad. In the end I finished 14^th and I’m satisfied enough with that. The 500 TT came and went without my performance making much of an impression.

The next day I lined up for the Elimination and as we rolled onto the track I maneuvered myself to the front of the bunch to keep safe for the first few eliminations. It worked for a bit and then it was my sister, Louise, vs me for an elimination. I tried to go over the rider in front of me and Louise dived under and she got it! So that was me out but I had enjoyed the racing. The 10km points was next and almost straight from the gun there were attacks and I had to kept pushing to try and stick in the back of the bunch.

After the first sprint the group bunched up. I was riding at the bottom of the track catching my breath and as we came round into the back straight all I saw was a pair of wheels coming in to my peripheral

on the startling of the points race

vision. Next thing I knew I was flipping over my bars and on to my face. I’ve been told it was a spectacular crash and it even made someone spill their tea in track centre by giving them such a fright.

All I knew was that I was lying on the track and my face hurt. Suddenly someone grabbed my neck stopping me from moving and a load of people appeared asking various questions about what hurt etc. All I wanted to know was if my bike, wheels and glasses had survived and demanded someone take a photo. Bike was fine but glasses, front wheel and helmet were write offs. After being scraped off the track I got patched up by the medics but had to go to A&E to get the cut on my chin looked at. Fair play to my sister though, who after checking I was alright got back onto the track, raced on and got 8^th then packed up everything and got me to hospital.

always smiling!

More patching up at A&E and then the long drive home. I was really pleased to crawl in to bed and even more pleased to be starting uni Spring break so I could get a long lie!

The next few days were quite tough as I was stiff and sore all over and just felt low in energy. By Thursday I was feeling much better and after a short spin on the turbo I was feeling much more like my normal self. Hope the recovery continues as on Sunday I am off to Mallorca for a week of riding with my ERC clubmates.  I am so looking forward to this!

I’d like to say a quick few thank yous, firstly to everyone at the uni sports centre, especially Allan and Luke! And to the boys in the uni cycling club for putting up with me getting dropped on the hills all winter. To everyone who helped me at the track too and check I was ok, I was overwhelmed by everyones kindness. And finally to my teammates at ERC, you always make me feel so welcome when I sporadically turn to the club rides and I really appreciate the support you all give me!

Until next time!