Summer Racing?

Over the weekend I headed down to Christchurch for the second round of the National Series- a SUMMER racing series!  The practice days were lovely- nice and warm, little wind and a brilliant view of Lyttelton Harbour from the top.   Unfortunately, come race day everything changed and I was quickly regretting not bringing my winter riding gear.  

It was bitterly cold and even after warming up for 20 minutes I was still cold.  I was so glad to have a long-sleeved Pedal Pushers top to race in! I got a terrible start and hit the first technical section near the back of the pack and ended up having to run my bike.  After the first 10 minutes I started to warm up and began making some progress but I was still struggling to change gear with frozen fingers!  I was also making lots of silly mistakes on some of the more technical sections- things I rode without a single problem in practice!  Despite some problems I managed to keep my lap times really consistent, just not quite as fast as I wanted.  All things considered I was happy with my race, I know I was pushing myself pretty hard and was cornering much better than last season.  I was also very happy to get back to the car and put some more layers on!  I finished 2nd in senior women so was happy with that but I still have a long way to go. 

Later in the day the weather heated up and the rain eased off making watching the elite race good fun!  It was a great trip and I’m really looking forward to the next race I’m doing at Mt Vic in  a few weeks time.