Well... first race of the Winter Series behind me...

Unfortunately not a good time, but that was not of my making, and I did finish.

I had never raced (or even ridden) this circuit before. I am looking forward to racing there in Spring - it is beside a river, with dramatic hill-scapes rising from the river and road. It will be stunning all dressed in new greens and the spring sky reflected in the water.

Anyways, we began, and I quickly found myself at the front and no-one else coming through - so about 3 of us kept up what I thought was a comfortable pace of 32-33km along the flats... but we were spiltting the bunch already which surprised me. And that felt good. I felt good even though I was not anticipating the hills that we were approaching.

Someone called out crash, and I yelled out; "did they have a cell phone?", and no-one knew, so I peeled off the front and went back. Glad I did. A girl there for the first time had her cell phone, but not the marshalls ICE number. She was ringing her dad. I rang the marshalls to let them know we had two Ramblers down and then stayed with them while the two others who had stopped with the 2 injured women headed off again.

Dad arrived, picked up his daughter, and by the time the marshall arrived, the other woman was feeling well enough to tape her cuts up and finish the ride - which we did together. It was great to ride at a steady pace and get to know her. Her chain locked up at one point, so we slowed, stopped and sorted that. She hadn't been along to ride for a while and was getting her confidence back, so I am glad I stopped.

The ride back itself was great, she flew up the hills and I flew down them and we'd join up again on the other side. She was great company, and although we were no longer in race mode, we rode well and steady and I wish we lived closer so we could do some training rides together.

We ended up with a time of 1:18:15 for the 32kms. So only a 24.54km average. So it was a great training ride and of course, since it was my first time on the course, I can legitimately claim a PB!!!

Family and I are off to do a gentle recovery ride soon (partner got about 7th in his grade yesterday, 16yr old got 4th in his, and 13 year old riding up in new grade came in 3rd). Tomorrow (its a public holiday - YAY) I will ride the "Apley circuitt" as if a race so I am well prepared for July 14th.