9 - 10 July 2022
On one of the hottest (so far) weekends of the year some of the team deliberately went and made themselves hotter. Becca went off circuit racing and Daphers went to an enduro. As ever though, that wasn’t enough for Daphs so the day after she did a small run as well. Hydration seems to be a key word in everyone’s reports.
Becca (Youth Female)
Last weekend I was at the National Youth Circuit Championships at the Scarborough Festival of Cycling.
Hot is an understatement! I went into the race putting little to no pressure on myself due to not racing a national circuit this year.
The course was different: level, down a huge hill and back up a steeper incline.
I started the race in a good position, towards the top half of the pack and managed to ride with the group for the first 15-20 minutes of the race, dropping a bit behind on the climb but soon catching up on the descent.
2-3 laps into the race there was a massive attack in the group. Unfortunately, I was positioned towards the back of the group as it happened so lost contact with them. For the rest of the race I was chipping people off, going from 30th to 22nd in the last couple of laps.
It was a super tough race, which gave me lots of little things to think about and how they would play a big part in your race e.g. hydration and food.
I’m happy with how I raced and performed and it was great to finally feel good in the red zone after being off the bike for a bit 2 weeks ago.
Back to training now, preparing myself for National MTB Champs – it’s going to be a great weekend with the team :)
- Becca finished 22nd overall in a very talented field of young riders. Given she’s been concentrating on MTB and XC this season, that’s an immense result. Good stuff, Becca
Daphne (Junior Female)
On the Saturday Daphs spent the day hurling herself up and down hillsides on her bike...
Welsh Enduro Series Round 4
On Saturday I travelled up Llandegla for Round 4 of the Welsh Enduro Series.
This was my first solo race event so it added to the excitement of the day (the parking was the most challenging element).
I did a practice lap in the morning to get a feel for the stages, they were very pedally and challenging tracks but the dry conditions meant they were loose in places so line choice was still very important.
At 1:30 I headed out for my race lap, all the stages went pretty well but made a small mistake on stage 4 with a messed up a gear change before a hill sprint. I finished in 3rd place, 17 seconds off 1st so very happy with my result and that’s a big improvement on last year. Looking forward to it giving some more enduros a go later on in the year.
On the Sunday Daphs spent the day hurling herself up and down hillsides on her feet...
Snowdon Half Marathon
On Sunday it was another early start as I headed up to Llanberis for the Snowdon half marathon.
This was first time doing this length of event so there was a mixture of nerves and excitement going into it with the main goal being to complete, with a side goal getting sub 4hrs. The insane heat definitely made for some difficult conditions, hydration and pacing were key for the event.
I started off feeling strong and picked my way through the field heading up the Ranger’s path. We then descended the Llanberis path. The heat was starting to become a proper factor around mile ten and it was probably the hardest mile of the race for me. The course then led us up Vivian Quarry for final push before descending back down to the finish line.
I finished in a time of 3hrs 9mins so super pleased with that and as a bonus I came 24/89 in the senior women’s category whilst being one of the youngest in that category.
Really enjoyed the event and looking forward to doing more in the future.
- Dad Duncan also did the same race and was chuffed to come 6th M50. #bemoredunc
Top racing Daphs (and Dunc)
I’m sure there were cooler ways of spending the weekend but maybe not as exciting. Next big event for the whole team is the National XC Champs at Kirroughtree.
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