The starting line-ups are getting tougher each time, today 42 Elite Females, with 12 nationalities including the British, Dutch, USA and Argentinian national teams. We were lucky that the course was in good condition despite really heavy rain over night.

I was gridded 32nd and a really tight tarmac start loop at the usual ferocious pace meant it was hard to get into a good position. I waited until a nastily steep climb before starting to make up some places. The course was good, a real mixture with something for everyone. Steep climbs on tarmac/fireroad, fun sliddery switchback descents, and long flat fireroad sections (too long if you ask me, I haven’t trained to go fast on the flat!). It meant the racing was really close with different people making time on different sections.

I certainly feel I’m getting stronger, especially on the climbs I was really able to make up time, but didn’t quite feel as fresh as last week (too much training in the week I reckon!). It was a long race, nearly 2 hours for me, and the last lap was tough, I kept seeing the bright orange kit of a Dutch rider closing in on me, but managed to hold her off in the end. I finished 25th (again!) but no getting lapped this time and if I can get 13.8% faster I could win these things!

Afterwards it was fun hanging out with some girls I met at last week’s race and then watching Richie in the men’s race. He wasn’t as lucky with the weather as we were, it started to rain and the course looked super greasy. It was cool to watch Absalon do his thing too, blasting up the hill in the big ring where I was in the granny by the end!

Nearly 40 of us lined up at the start with a large, noisy crowd making the atmosphere great. The pace was ferocious, straight into a 5-6 minute climb. I made up a few places but was held up at a tight singletrack part where riders in front of me were walking. It took most of the first lap before we were spread out enough to ride properly. I felt like I was going ok most of the time, but struggling a bit staying on the pace and keeping focused. Although I had no idea what position I was in, I knew there were people ahead of me that I wanted to beat.

There were some really nice bits to the course, I enjoyed the technical drops and a cool switchback climb, but overall I think the laps were a bit too short and it felt quite disjointed. On lap 6 it was obvious I was in real danger of getting lapped and i really put the hammer down to stay in the race but it wasn’t to be. Eventually I heard the horrible sound of the motorbike coming up behind me and winner Kathrin Leumann came flying passed. Not long after for a couple of fun minutes I was following Sabine Spitz up a singletrack climb pretending I was on the same lap as her! On my last lap I got the most excruciating leg cramp as I hopped a log – it left me screaming out in pain right in front of the spectators marquee. I finished in 25th place, not the result I’d hoped for and more frustratingly I couldn’t really work out why. I was feeling strong in the run up to the race and there was no really obvious problem during it.

A few days reflection and I reckon mental tiredness could be a factor – working 10-12 hours a day in college (coming up to the end of term!) and trying to fit in training as well doesn’t help with focusing! There are a few preparation thing I will also change but other than that its recovering and preparing for next sunday – the German Bundesliga in Albstadt, a HC race with an incredibly strong looking line up.

There wasn’t much space but I managed to move up a few spots on the first climb and then lost any advantage as I got stuck behind a huge group when we hit some super steep wooden steps that everyone was running up. I spent the whole of the first lap working like hell to pass people, it was tough, warm weather and steep climbs left me breathing like a donkey and the course was mostly singletrack so passing opportunities were limited. I got into the back of a group of 5 or 6 people (some of whom I know were ahead of me in Schaan) and it was wheel on wheel stuff with no chance for recovery. By the end of the lap I was in 22nd place (last time I was 27th at that stage so an improvement).

I really enjoyed the course but it was hard work, a 7.2km lap with a mixture of steep climbing and descending (260m total climb per lap) and a lot more technical than last time. The ground was mostly dry but it meant that the few wet parts were super greasy. Into the 2nd lap I’d moved to 2nd in the group and was feeling ok until on a descent someone shouted ‘achtung!’ and next thing I know WHAM, I rammed my shoulder into a tree at full speed and then hit my head and knee as I fell. I got up feeling disorientated, straightened my bike out and hopped back on but I’d lost several places and was passed by a couple of others as I struggled to fight pains every time I hit a bump.

It took a couple of minutes to put the crash out of my mind and get focused again but I pressed on trying to catch the group. We actually all got a split up – a girl 2 places behind me crashed at the same place and couldn’t go on (they taped that line off on the next lap). By lap 3 I’d settled into a good rhythm and kept getting glimpses of people in front. Unfortunately using the upper body was really important with lots of rocks and drops to negotiate, and I wasn’t able to go as fast as I’d have like on the descents. I kept thinking I’d caught the girl ahead and then she’d pull away again.

On the last lap I was chasing hard, but also being chased. As hard as I tried I couldn’t make up another place and was really annoyed to be caught from behind on a descent. I can partly put it down to my shoulder but I would have like to have been strong enough to stop it happening – mentally as much as physically.

I finished in 20th place, 14 minutes behind the winner. Not the best race ever but I definitely learnt a lot from it, both good and bad. Infact I’m almost happy to have had a bad race so that I know I can deal with it – in Ireland racing so few people its easy to convince yourself it was good whatever happens!

It was only when I stopped I realised how sore my shoulder is. Can hardly lift my arm! I think its just a bad bruise so hopefully won’t take too long to fix – I was hoping to be done with injuries for a while. You know its been tough when you’re wiping away blood, picking stones out of your leg, and simple things like getting dressed become an endurance test!!

The gun went and it was straight into a 2km climb, all elbows out as we jostled for position. I got into a rhythm and was doing ok towards the back of the main group. The pace was fast but very steady all the way up, and with 20 degrees and the sun blaring down it was a relief to get to the top and hit the descent. After the first couple of laps there were a few of us jostling backwards and forwards so I really had to concentrate to stick with them.

By the 5th lap although I was having to fight cramp, i was actually feeling pretty strong. I dropped a couple of girls on the climb and caught up with a group of juniors. Until then I had made time on the descent each lap, but some of them were really quick – good though, made me push harder to keep up. Climbing the 6th lap i was having a real battle with 2 other girls, and starting to prepare for a tough race on the last (7th) lap. I was gutted to hear the motorbike coming up behind and see Elisabeth Osl coming by to lap me. After that I really gave it everything to get ahead of the group and avoid getting passed by anyone else, and managed to put a bit of time into them on the last descent.

Just seen the results (Swiss efficiency for you!), I was 21st, not too bad – a bit of googleing showed I beat some experienced riders too. Overall I’m pretty happy with my performance, I know with more preparation I can do better but at least now I have a benchmark. Most importantly it was great fun – role on the next one in 2 weeks!

Thanks to Laia for doing my bottles, couldn’t have managed without you! also my Erasmus supporters, and of course UCD, Met and Think Bike.