I turned up at the Hillingdon Circle Circuit in Hayes at 1.55pm ready for a 2.00pm start, a bit later than the 1.20pm I had envisaged due to traffic and getting lost. (serve me right for not taking a proper map.)
There was an afternoon of womens racing set up; a bit of a taster for the new birds plus some coaching for any Cat 1-4 riders who cared to come along. Oh, and some races.
Hillingdon is an enclosed cycle circuit just under a mile long. It is totally car free and it is now part of a complex including some 5 a side football pitchs and has a brand new changing facility and café. The cycle track itself was built using tarmac, and has a few twists and turns, a nice fast swooping corner, a long flat straight and a small hill with a chicane that you think won’t affect you until you try and ride it with the wind in your face. This section really gets the heart going.
I missed the first small race as I was so late, but we soon grouped together again to have a go at the flying start 200m sprint. This was an individual event, on the clock, timed by the ancient art of flag dropping and the use of a stopwatch. Unfortunately the sprint was uphill into the wind and round a chicane. Needless to say I was not warmed up and technique was rubbish too. I ground up the hill in too big a gear and ended up doing 250m not 200m because I didn’t cut the corners off the chicane. I also didn’t sprint in my drops and wasn’t going as fast as I could when I got to the flag……..all the rookie mistakes, I bet. Still, I didn’t come last which is good.
So we had a little chat with the coaches, Shane and John Leitch, about what we should have done, and some youngster won £18 for her efforts. I don’t know her name but she had a white England Talent Team windstopper on. In fact there were a few of these around, and all young things, so I thought that I would not be competing in an equal environment.
The next event was for all category of racers. The Cat 1-3’s were doing a 50 minute + 5 lap session, and the unclassified and Cat 4 doing 10 laps. We all set off together and I managed to keep up with the group in front. However on the faster sections the old heart was up to 178 bpm, so when we got a train going and I got to the front of it, I didn’t take the front and dropped back. I’m glad I did, because I would have been completely bushed after the first 5 laps. The proper riders were not that bothered as I was dropping out after 10 laps anyway.
The circuit put a real grin on my face, and it was pretty hairy at times swooping round the bends and trying the find out which was the best position to be in on various sections of the circuit. I’m pretty sure I lost out to other more experienced riders, because I seemed to catch a fair bit of wind. However I did my fair share of drafting.
The 10th lap soon came up, and I sprinted up the hill to the line but was pipped at the post by a long legged triathlete who I swear had 10 years on me. I did a warm down lap or two whilst the higher categories still pegged it round. Whilst they were still racing our lot had a chat with the coaches. We found out later that we had done 9 miles in 26 minutes, which is not too bad. My first try out at the Horne 9 mile circuit was 26 minutes in May this year.
One of the unclassified people managed to do the entire 50 minutes, which was impressive. Needless to say she came in last, as the rest of the licenced riders had plenty left to give when it came to the last few laps. Still, a really good result as she managed to keep to the front of the group for nearly all the laps.
The unclassified and Cat 4’s had another shorter race, supposed to be 6 laps but the clouds were building up so it was shortenend to 4, with a £5 prize for the first over the line at lap 2. That long legged person managed to beat me twice, but she told me afterwards she had done quite a lot of track work, so I was pretty pleased with my overall performance.
I had a really great day, and thoroughly enjoyed how it felt to ride on a lovely smooth track with other like minded and mad people, jostling for position and trying not to come off (me, that is). I’m looking forward to the next one.
Michelle Le Brun