CC Hackney's Tao Geoghegan Hart.
gogo Tao
Great Britain Cycling Team for the 2012 Under 23 UEC European Track Championships
U23 Sprint
Peter Mitchell
Callum Skinner
Kian Emadi
Rebecca James
Victoria Williamson
Junior Sprint
Matt Rotherham
Danielle Khan
Junior Endurance
Jonathan Dibben
Sam Lowe
Chris Latham
Tao Geoghegan Hart
Lucy Garner
Elinor Barker
Amy Roberts
Now onto the main event itself. After a Friday Metro Headline:
3 Months Worth of Rain Over The Weekend
I was worried about the conditions, especially after so much work had been put in. But the sun shone - HA! I hate the Metro anyway - and 50-70 girls and women turned up to pedal hard and either blast the competition or see how they faired in their first track race experience. There were 3 categories, A, B and Go Ride! (Novice). I entered as part of the latter category with other ladies who had mostly attended some of the Mule Bar Girl training sessions. Again, brilliant initiative which is actively growing the women entering the sport and with confidence. You can still come along for £6, including hire of a track bike on Sunday’s - check updates here. See the same link for chaingang training which takes place Monday’s in Regent’s park. Both are dedicated women sessions).
Most of us had not raced on the track before and so were a little nervous. The grouping was done excellently though and so the competition was fierce, and after an unexpected ‘lively’ night previous seeing my friends band over from Berlin I had to adopt my best race face to get through the day! There were a series of races (scratch, points, 2-lap dash) in the omnium and then an extra scratch just to ensure your legs were totally reduced to jelly by the end of the day! Kate and I represented for Cycling Club Hackney (sign up now ladies its awesome!) and came 3rd and 7th out of 17 respectively. Not bad for a first attempt; we’re coming back for more next time!
Sophie's charge for the line |
Well done to everyone who competed, came and watched and were involved - an important event which was EXCELLENT fun!
Words and pics - Sophie