Capernwray Road Race
It was an early start for me on the Sunday morning, not only had the clocks changed that morning, I had only just returned from the sunny island of Majorca where I had been riding with the team on a ‘training’ camp. I have been training consistently since CX season finished and hadn’t road raced since September therefore I thought it was time to don my purple lycra and see how the legs felt. Capernwray is notoriously a brutal circuit containing a 12% climb and not an inch of flat tarmac, so I knew in this race would be a tough one straight after a training camp. However I really enjoyed the race last year, so thought why not have another crack…? Another eager teamie Laura Morgan had endured storm force 10 weather to make it over on the choppy bateau from the Isle of Man so that made two purple people in the race. A fellow Alba Rosa lady picked me up and we headed West towards grey skies and temperature read a whole 10 degrees colder than Majorca…. Where I had hoped after climbing foreign cols my legs might have been replaced with those of a mountain goat.
As we arrived at HQ I was optimistic the rain would hold out, as I said my hello’s to people I hadn’t seen since last year I was in an optimistic mood (rare for me!) and thought I best get my rollers out ready for a good warm up. That’s when the inevitable happened, the skies turned dark grey and a monsoon started. This meant that mounting the rollers without stabilisers was nearly impossible, as I stood there in awe of Team 22’s Clare Martin’s core/rollering in wet skills I decided I needed to ride around the cul de sac to warm up. After a 9 minute trip around the cul de sac which resembled an urban velodrome, I headed to HQ for the briefing and we waited nervously to roll out in torrential conditions. The neutralized section of this race started quite tentatively, and only 500 m down the road I heard the sound of riders crash on slippy greasy roads, which did nothing to calm my crazy heart rate! Another 1km down the road we ground to a halt, as the one of the men had punctured in front so we had to hang around in the freezing cold whilst they found him a wheel!! Off we trundled again, and came onto part of the course I recognized, and then we did the inaugural climb of Sunnybank, I was well placed mid bunch, and as we crested the top I found we had all ground to a halt again!! It was then the Commisaire told us we had been taken onto the course the wrong way and therefore were going to do a lap less (not sure if I was relieved!) and also we had to wait at the top to let the men’s race pass!!! So another few mins left waiting ensured my legs were far from optimal ready for the impending doom….
As the race got underway I positioned myself in the front half of the bunch and held on for dear life on the swooping descent swallowing lots of rain water I knew the course turned sharply left at bottom and had a steep climb which would involve some big to little ring gear crunching!! We all turned left and climbed out the saddle then BOOM a suicidal tractor nearly took out half the front of the bunch and required us all to slam on our brakes!! This was quite unnerving and caused me to slow up, which led to the inevitable…. Losing touch with the wheels in front!!! And then I suddenly found myself in my favourite position…. On my own!!! Groups of 2/3 girls rode past me, and I tried for dear life to cling on but I suddenly realised I’d left my legs in Alcudia and therefore the next 2 laps turned into a solo effort. I can’t tell you much more about what all the other girls were doing in the race as my only company for the next lap were a few lambs in the field and my stem.
After one lap on my own contemplating why I had left a hot sunny place to come and ride around on my own in apocalyptic conditions, I decided I was going to quit at the top of Sunnybank climb, as my shoes had small lakes forming and I couldn’t feel my fingers. I started recalling a mantra my Alba Rosa friend had told me in car – “in racing you either feel determined or deluded!!” This race I was definitely feeling both!!!! At my low ebb a miracle occurred and a Racing Chance lady Beate Kubitz came along behind me and motivated me to keep going for the last lap!! Thank the lord! We even managed a smile! It was then I realised that even in races when things don’t go to plan, something inside you tells you just to battle on and cross the line knowing that not finishing would feel worse!!! So together we rolled up the climb for the last time, and I finished the race a lowly 29th, however it was a day I learnt I was resilient and that any race after Sunday would feel easier!! I arrived at HQ like a drowned rat and was promptly told my lips were blue! Teamie Laura Morgan rolled into HQ and was equally frozen but we were both happy we had finished!!! Next race thankfully on the flatlands of York Sport with a few more purple teamies!!
Nat.
Photos courtesy of Ellen Isherwood.
