Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
A few days before the Red Bull Hillchasers, Nick from Charge Bikes got in touch to check whether I was going. I was meant to be, but I had a few questions as Edinburgh is so damn far away and I was facing an 18 hour round trip to attend.
Firstly, I asked, ‘will it be fun,’ and next I enquired whether there would be a women’s category.’ What I really wanted to know was whether I was going to do horribly, come last and look like a nobhead left miles behind whilst everyone else pegged it up the hill.
I didn’t ask the final question, instead deciding to keep my neuroses to myself, but pleased that the organiser were sensible enough to include a women’s race I booked a train from my lovely home in Devon to the beautiful city of Edinburgh.
The race took place on The Mound, a hill stretching up from the main shopping street to the castle perched above. The first part looked fairly straight forward but near the top there was a sharp bend before a cobbled section to the finish line.
I’d decided to ride a fixed gear as I’m just so familiar with riding one, plus I liked the idea of just concentrating on pedalling rather than faffing around with gears and possibly getting it wrong. As for gear ratio, well, I just left it as I already had it.
Once the qualifications were over, the main races saw groups of ten riders set off at once and sprint their way to the top. I was pretty nervous about riding with Shanaze Reade in the final, as she’s not only brutally strong, but also rather intimidating - she doesn’t think twice about cutting people up (and rightly so, it’s a race after all!). Oh, and she’s an Olympic/World Champ superstar BMXer.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
We all lined up at the start gate and my main thoughts were ‘stay out of Shanaze’s way,’ and ‘am I going to totally suck at this?’ But when the start gates dropped I got away alright and with a few strong pedals, I actually seemed to be doing quite well. Shanaze sprinted off, off and away, and as I kept cranking, I began to wonder whether I could actually do alright!
I kept blasting away up the hill, surprised by the fact I wasn’t coming last, and I guess that gave me a little boost that helped speed me on. As we approached the tight bend at the top, I became aware of Anna Glowinski fairly close behind me, and felt absolutely sure that she’d overtake me before the line. I tried as hard as I could not to let her pass me, wanting to feel that whatever happened I’d given it my all. And to my great surprise, I clung onto my lead and came second. YAY!
I was absolutely delighted to share the podium with Shanaze and my pal Anna Glowinski. Woo hoo!!!
Click here for a video with me air punching as I cross the line, haha!
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
