Sitting down and writing about my racing generally comes easy. I enjoy it because it's like a little diary entry and almost quite therapeutic to dump my thoughts on a page. This month it's just been something I've put off, maybe just because it's pretty tough trying to relive a race that I haven't done well in or just because I guess I don't want to face the reality by putting it in writing. The first few races of the CX season I always find the hardest and I've never really ever felt fully ready for a CX season to start, it goes over such a long period of time that I guess being on top form for the first race would be almost silly. I sit writing this lying in bed having caught a cold and gotten ill, so I don't want this blog post to come across depressing or sad because I know that it only reflects my state of mind presently and doesn't reflect my true emotions from this month. In reality this month has been incredibly exciting for various reasons. Firstly, I was lucky enough to travel out to Austria for a week of riding with Rapha, to shoot a new line of kit they're releasing (film promo getting released soon- keep your eyes peeled!). I also traveled to race my first ever Gravel champs, camped in my car and caught up with many good friends. Moreover, I've had talks with lots of people about plans for next year and it's looking like it's going to be another mad one! And lastly, I kickstarted my CX season which, although not how I planned (read on…) I am hopeful and keen to see my improvements the rest of the season. My season began at home, racing a course I know down to the T and, well, I don't particularly love, as it's not best suited to my abilities, good ol' Clanfield CX. It was great to rock up as a whole team though, post team training camp and race together for the first time. It's going to be a strong team this year! Although my race didn't go how I really wanted it to, looking at the last few months of training and illness my form was better than I thought it should've been. Which I guess is a positive, although hard to tell yourself after what I would've considered "a poor result". Two weeks later and I'm lining up on the start line again, this time out in Belgium! Initially I didn't want to go and race this weekend, but eventually realised that at the end of the day it doesn't matter where I finish in the first few races of the season because they don't mean anything to anyone but only to show myself where my form is at. I had this opportunity to travel out with the team to race a double weekend and couldn't see a reason to not go other than my brain telling me I was going to be embarrassed at how bad I thought I would do. I'll be honest, I didn't ride well. I felt out of practice, unathletic and just generally slow. It's not a great feeling, but it was the kick up the backside that I needed. Quite frankly, It was what I like to call "A constructive ass-kicking" hahah! Kingscup gravel champs, having had a small taste of gravel earlier this year I decided why not give it a shot, if anything just to see what the hype was about and get a bloody good training ride in. I camped over the weekend with a few friends and slept in the boot of my car (don't knock it till you try it - surprisingly cosy), I really enjoy events like this where the vibe is super chilled and there's no stress of the race day ahead. 8:30am Saturday morning and I'm off, relying on my strong start to get me up to the front of the race quickly. Just missing the front break, I sat in the chasing group for 3 tough laps, we were gunning it - full gas - all eyes on the group just out of reach up the road. At the hour mark I started to really feel it in the legs, not having done much racing recently, if at all, over 1hr I knew I would really have to dig deep. And as if on cue, my rear tyre went flat… I ran tubeless and luckily a quick refill of gas and I was back on the road, but now out of rhythm and alone. I spent the rest of the race chasing, still trying to make a hard training session out of it, I hit my limit and was an absolute shell by the end. Although a bit of a failure in the race, I wasn't angry or upset with the result, weirdly i couldn't have cared less! Because despite forgetting to connect HR and power data, I knew I rode strong- the strongest I've ridden in a long time, and that felt really good.
Thanks so much for reading See ya next month for more shenanigans, 3 CX nationals in one month coming up- good luck future me haha Amy :) x
2 Comments
Charlotte
10/1/2022 01:51:08 am
You’re so strong and you’re going to smash this season. Being able to reflect like you have is so powerful.
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7/2/2023 10:49:30 pm
En iyi van ilan sitesi burada. https://van.escorthun.com/
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