The 7th June saw my legend dad once again drive me to the other side of the country with my bro and Mouldy (Boyfriend) for the 3rd round of the Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix. A good 4 and a half hour journey in pouring rain soon passed by and wasn’t too bad. We got there with plenty of time which was good to get the bikes set up and get the best spot to warm up. It was great because the women were getting interviewed and filmed while warming up by ITV.
When I rode to the course I got drenched; my shoes were already squelching so there was no point trying so hard to keep myself dry. The course was a 1.6km circuit, which had a few drags in it, but was perfect to keep the pace high and whittle the bunch down, which Matrix Fitness-Prendas did. Pre-start it was a bit stressful and hectic with the course not being fully finished with barriers etc which meant our start was delayed it also meant the pit area wasn’t ready in time so we couldn’t get our race wheels easily. DS Stef kept his cool though and ensured that our bikes were ready for racing. Legend!
During the race I just stayed at the front to keep myself out of trouble, everyone was complaining because of the weather (me too before the race started) but during the race I absolutely loved it. It was so fun. Definitely the most enjoyable race of the year (I’m nuts I know). But anyway to the race…I just made sure Annie was up there and on the first sprint I was behind her seeing her and I taking points in the sprint classification which was great because it extended Annie’s overall lead in the sprint competition. Penny made a good little attack but it was brought back, however it was perfectly timed and it totally strung the bunch out with the high pace. Coming into the 2nd sprint Annie and I were at the front again and we both scored points again, which was great.
Now we only had to think about the finish. Natalie Creswick attacked with 2 laps to go but Helen Wyman was straight on it, but they didn’t get a gap. Annie and I had a good position going into the finish but Eileen Roe had already got the jump to take the win. Annie came 6th, I was 7th and Penny was 11th which was a great team finish, seeing us take the team win on the night. It made sure we closed the overall team points gap on Node4-Giordana, which strangely put us equal with 108points a piece, so the next two rounds; Woking and Stoke are all to play for.
I felt great during the race I just hope I can perform well again at Woking and Stoke; fingers crossed. We successfully defended 2 jerseys as well which are on the shoulders of Annie; the leader’s jersey and sprinters jersey.
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