Another race, another fall! I don't seem to be having much luck at all recently, but as people keep telling me, that's racing. This Sunday was another town centre crit, this time in Doncaster. The race was part of the Doncaster Cycle Festival, a whole day of cycling related activities in the town.
After enjoying Shrewsbury Grand Prix so much the week before, I was really looking forward to this race. Natalie, Alison and I were racing together again and it was another beautiful day - sunny, warm and dry. The course was a short lap in the town centre, mainly flat with some wide, flowing corners.
Lining up on the start, I'd learnt from last week and was determined to be near the front. It paid off! The bunch quickly split and I managed to stay with the front group. Good start! Until...
5 laps in, the rider in front of me took a corner too tight and lost control of her bike, sending both herself and me sliding across the road. The next group then came around the corner and piled into us. There's some video of the race and the crash (by Ben Hales) here:
I did get back on my bike and do 2 more laps, but was so dizzy and confused that I decided it was safest to retire. Thankfully I've come off lightly, with just bruises and scrapes to show for my tarmac surfing.
Post crash, not feeling too good (but still almost smiling)! Photo by Neil Hendry.
On to the rest of the race! Alison, who'd had to stop to avoid our crash, put in a huge effort to bridge to the front group and then managed an excellent 8th place behind winner Paige Milward of BikePure. Natalie put in a fab ride to come 19th, with no more contact lens problems. Result!
Despite crashing, it was a brilliant event, plus I still had a good day as I got chance to chat to some lovely people and watch the elite men's race :)
Mat Pennell has made a quick promotional video for the event, which you can watch here. See if you can spot me and my team-mates warming up:
If you'd like to know more about the Doncaster Cycle Festival, visit their website here: http://www.doncastercyclefest.com, or follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DonCycleFest
My next report is a very exciting one - Alison and I had the opportunity to ride a round of the Matrix Fitness GP Series on Tuesday! I'm sooo looking forward to sharing our experience, so I'll have the report up shortly :D