British  National Criterium Championships 2008 - Horwich

Joanna Rowsall 1st, Leda Cox 2nd, Katie Colclough 3rd

I travelled up to Horwich early Sunday morning which was not a bad journey be it a little boring!   Thankfully the car has a comfy drivers seat.    

I was in two minds about starting the Criterium Championships as I have been feel very Jet lagged and tired since returning back from my last stage race in Canada.   I decided to give it a bash as I had a very easy week running up to the race but was still feeling tired from doing nothing!   It was disappointing to see a small field of girls for the Championship event but at least the crowd turned up and cheered us all on which added to the atmosphere a bit.  The course was a 1 mile loop around the town centre with a small rise leading up to the finish and a drag in the last 100 metres.   The wind was evident for the finishing 100 metres which is were the breaks went.

The race started with Rowsall leading from the front setting the pace.   Katie Colclough attacked which I then Countered into the finishing stretch which saw Me, Rowsall and another rider get a gap in the early stages of the race.  I did not recover well and my legs were clearly not happy today so hanging on today was just an effort!  I could not keep the pace up with Rowsall although I tried several options to do so but I just felt tired so I dropped back into the bunch which was strung out in the attempt to catch up Rowsall in her solo break away.  

A small break of 6 riders including me, Catherine Hare - Team Halfords, Katie Colclough - Team Halfords and Sarah Storey - VC St.Raphael got away from the main bunch which was splitting up a lot due to the wind today.     Sarah led the break with her pursuiting efforts but it was not enough to catch Rowsall who was having a great day today.   I tried to get a gap in the last 10 laps but didn't have it in the bank so I decided to save the little bit of energy I had for the last lap as I knew I could put in a blast up the hill to the finish and try to keep it going into the head wind to get 2nd as Joe was definitely away and going to take the win today.   Joe took the Win I came 2nd after attacking in the final 500 metres and Katie Colclough came 3rd.

It was a good criterium circuit not your normal flat sprinters circuit which made the race a lot more exciting.   A great Win for Joe she had a great ride today and a big "Thank you" to Horwich town for coming out to support all the races!

A mixed race for me which was overshadowed with feeling pretty off par but at least I made the long journey worth it with a Silver Medal.     So now it is back home for me to rest up sleep lots and make sure I am 100% rested for the National Road Race championships next week Saturday.

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