Down to the Wire at the Hetton Park CXNE, 5th October 2014

Photo copyright of CWhat Photography

On the morning of the Hetton CXNE race I awoke feeling sorry for myself with a bad cold and generally feeling lethargic which lead to a negative outlook towards the day ahead.  On arriving at Hetton and where I usually hop straight out the van grab the bike and get going, I needed a bit of a parental push.

Throughout practice I wasn’t feeling too great, I gave my head a wobble, told myself to get over it and got my race head on!

My dad and I also forgot to pre-enter the event which meant that I would not be gridded despite previous results and that when the race got under way I was at the back of the women’s category, the very last line!

So, we set off and with no time to loose I sprinted through everyone to get to where I needed to be. The starting line was at the bottom of a straight concrete path which then lead the riders onto the course and I knew that I had to use this to my advantage.  Although it tired me out it needed to be done if I was to be in competition with the top ladies for the lead.

Photo copyright of Ed Rollason

I was with Nicola Davies for a fair while and didn't want to let her go however when we came to the hurdles I struggled to get back on my bike quickly enough and she shot off into the distance.

Photo copyright of Ed Rollason

I kept on digging in and the spectators told me I was very close to Bev Blakeman, who last year I made it my goal to keep up with as she’s such a powerful athlete. This made me push harder and I eventually caught her.  We decided to work together trying to catch up with Nicola, however with only two laps to go there wasn't much time.

I was really feeling it by this point and was determined to keep up with Bev. As we came around the corner to the finish, we both began to sprint and despite giving it my all Bev beat me by an inch! I was still proud and happy that we were so close, the hug and the “Well done!” from Bev made me feel great!

Photo copyright of Ed Rollason

So there you have it, a day that I thought would be bad turned into a great one!

Next week I should be on my new Frank the Welder CX bike, hell yes!

Megan

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