I had so much fun at the team launch on Saint Piran Day (5th March). It was great to go down to Cornwall and spend some time with the team!
What did we get up to?
Friday
The women’s team all arrived on Friday throughout the day. This was a great opportunity for everyone to be issued with their new team bike!!! And get help with sorting out any bits and pieces they needed. It was also a great opportunity for riders to get to know each other better or have a great catch up.
Saturday
Saint Piran Day! Saturday was our team launch day which was held at the café. We had a lovely social ride with members of the public in the morning and then a nice afternoon at the café socialising and talking to partners/ sponsors of the team.
The ride was a lovely 30 mile loop and we were lucky enough to have good weather. On the ride I met some lovely local people. I chatted to one lady who was competing in her first crit the following weekend, it was lovely to talk to her and share some crit top tips.
After the ride (we had a very quick shower) then went back to the café for food, music and to celebrate Saint Piran Day. It was great to talk to so many people who all were in support of the team.
Sunday
Team ride! This was a great opportunity for the women’s team to all ride together. As riders come from all corners of the country, it is not that often that we all get to ride together. As we started out it started to drizzle but luckily this didn’t materialise and the weather stayed fine during the whole ride. I was unfortunate enough to get a puncture after about 10km which meant I was able to ride in the team car for a bit which was quite a good experience. Once fixed we caught back up to the group and I was back out on the road again. The route was great roughly about 100km, with undulating hills (hard not to be in Cornwall).
After the ride we returned to the café for lunch and a bit of a debrief from Ricci then we were on our way home!
What did we learn?
All things wheel!
We were lucky enough to have a chat with one of our partners, Luke, from Pacenti cycle design, who provides the wheels for the team. He was able to impart so much wheel knowledge to us, such as how to maintain tubeless tyres, how to work out our perfect tyre pressure and how to maintain our lovely wheels to a high standard. I certainly learnt the benefit of cleaning the tyre and replacing the sealant regularly. So I’m hoping this will help me have less punctures, seeing as I’ve had three already this year!!!
Riding as a team!
The team ride was a great chance for us to ride together and also learn from each other. I had chats with riders about their strengths, the races they were most looking forward to and also how they can help the team succeed in all races. It was a great bonding experience for us all. During the ride we also had practise riding to the team car to learn how to do this if we ever need to in a race. We also learnt chain gang doesn’t work on hills!!!!
Supporting each other!
Before leaving on Sunday, we had a chat as a team discussing tips and what we learnt from the weekend! For example, labelling all kit is a must! It also gave us a chance to chat with our DS Megan to talk about kit and how the team can run smoothly.
Overall, it was a great weekend and has made us all so excited to get racing together!
Emily x
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