Winchester Criterium

The Winchester Criterium, the south region championship. This was one of the biggest event in the south region, with over 30 people in my race, which was just under 16 boys. Id done the race previously, but never came away with any great result, as I was weaker, and hadn’t been racing for that long.

I was a bit nervy before, and could tell this as on the rollers, but this was masked by warming up with friends and sharing jokes as we awaited our race. After the warm up I was feeling prepared for the race, and ready to give it my all, there was a jersey and title on offer after all.

There was a slight delay before our race, as there was an incident in the Under 16 girls race, so we all had to wait around for the course to be clear. In wait before the start I made sure I stayed hydrated and sheltered from the sun, as it was a scorcher of a day.

I got away well, but fell backwards a bit in the turns. I made the front bunch, but for the first few laps I was on the back of it and couldn’t move up. When I did move up I got mid way through the group, and then on a corner had a rider chop across my wheel as I was turning. This spooked me, and then the crash that happened in front of me meant that I ended up chasing the pack for the rest of the race due to the cornery nature of the course and back markers.

I got on in the final lap, and out of the final corner gave it my all, and came across the line 6th and completely empty, the hardest race of this season, with the average speed of our arce comparing closely to the elite adult race.  

I was pleased with the ride, although knew that if I had got over nerves I would have been higher up, but nevertheless it was a good day out, and something that i could build on for the rest of the season to improve my riding and results.