Tickhill Velo hosted yet another fantastic event; HQ at the village hall where you could get free refills from your £1 mug of tea, plus all the cakes were £1 a slice; there was also a tent at the top of the hill with banners etc.; they even had marshals directing riders to the start. The atmosphere (and weather) was great and you always bump into friends at these events. Well done chaps!
So, I’d concluded that because of the shortness of the climb, it was going to be an all out lung buster and the 600g weight difference didn’t matter between my Ravens steel bike and Casati aluminium bike. What did matter was the ride, I chose my more responsive steel. I also put my new cleats on this morning, the ones I had on were completely knackered and clicked and squeaked, this, I think is what the made the difference from my latest attempts up Bib Lane.
Because I had rode to the start, I needed to ditch some unnecessary clothing: arm warmers, leg warmers, gloves, long sleeved jersey as did my glasses and helmet ( it just felt better). I also ditched my water bottle and saddle bag. I was ready.
From the start I noticed how much more responsive legs, foot, pedal, power were. Then I thought, am I going to quick? I eased off the middle section, but still feeling good when I set up for the final 3rd, hearing the cheers and clackers, I went for it. Maybe not the full 100% effort that I had imaged, but I felt good. Competition was high and there were some very fast ladies. I wasn’t bothered where I came in the standings (as long as it wasn’t last!). However, when the results got sent out, I was pleased to find I was 4th lady out of 8. After checking my results on Strava, today was my fastest time ever up Bib Lane by a whole 7 seconds. There’s obviously a multitude of factors, from preparation with sleep, food and rest and a good warm up to how you’re feeling on the day.
I felt good and I was riding my steelie.