top of page
Search
  • floraisabelperkins

The blog post where… I tell you about the European Track Championships.

I recently competed for Great Britain in the European Track Championships, which were held in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. This was my first international race and the highest level I’ve ever competed at. It all came about fairly quickly. I received the email confirming my selection shortly after the National Track Championships (25-29 July) and was off to a pre-euros training camp in Manchester within a week. In Manchester, the squad trained on the track and prepared for the upcoming races. But most importantly, we were given a whole bag of cycling and casual GB kit. I’m not ashamed to admit that this was one of the highlights of the whole experience!


Like many of us, I hadn’t been outside of the UK for almost a couple of years now. There were various covid testing and Coronavirus protocols we had to navigate before we could cross the channel. I travelled in a van with another Junior girl and a group of U23 girls and did my best to pick up some very rudimentary Dutch as we drove. Apart from some low-level disputes about who should be DJ, the journey was relatively stress-free!


We arrived a couple of days prior to the start of racing. The hotel was in a quiet wooded residential area on the edge of Apeldoorn, approximately a ten-minute ride away from the velodrome. It was comfortable and clean. The food was good. And, to top it all off, there were coffee machines in every room. It felt like luxury.


I competed in the Scratch and Elimination races on the days that the other Junior Girls did Team Pursuit. You can watch them here, though you may need to register on the site. Although I didn’t clock it at the time, I now realise I was pretty nervous going into these races. I lost my appetite, an unusual thing for me. I felt the pressure to perform. It was an unfamiliar environment and I met lots of new people. Both of which felt equally exciting and somewhat stressful. It was my first time racing internationally and I didn’t know a single other rider. I am so accustomed to knowing my competitors and their strengths and weaknesses and how I rack up against them. I didn’t know the feel of the track all that well either. There were a lot of unknowns and it felt like I was going in blind. This was probably good for me; an important learning point and preparation for possible future events where I could be in a similar position.


The races themselves were a mixed bag. I came away with a fourth in both races. The Scratch race was pretty cagey and the pace was slow. I think I respond far better to an aggressive environment and so this style of racing didn’t suit me so much. I got in a move off the front at one point but it was too far out from the finish to make it stick. I accepted that it was most likely going to be a bunch finish. I made a mistake towards the end and hesitated with a lap to go. In hindsight, I should have committed to taking the font and followed the age-old advice of ‘if in doubt, lead it out’. I did manage to stay fairly well placed in the group but if I wanted a chance at the win I needed to be higher up. The Elimination was a different kettle of fish. It was physically harder and the fluctuating pace of the race took something out of my legs. The race was actually pretty sketchy and there were a fair few crashes. This was slightly annoying because it meant there were sections of the race that were neutralised. I didn’t know how focused I needed to be on these laps or how hard to push on. I didn’t want to risk getting caught at the back once racing commenced. However, I managed to stay upright and out of trouble. I was aggressive, switched on and well-positioned for most of the race. I enjoyed the elimination race much more but in the end, I just ran out of gas.


I discussed my tactics before each race with Emma Trott, the Junior Academy Girls’ Coach. We kept it simple. I was told to trust my instinct and to ride my own race. I was disappointed not to medal but mostly disappointed not to win. I had high hopes for myself and didn’t come away with quite the results I wanted. However, I think I can be proud of my performance. The coaches had kind things to say about the way I raced and this helped to lift my mood. I also had conversations with my parents, my coach and Emma over the following days, all of which helped me manage my frustration and reflect constructively.


The other Junior Girls had not only won the Team Pursuit event but broke a world record. I was really pleased for them as they had worked so hard for this. I did struggle a bit with my own disappointment but was able to jump on their winning bandwagon a bit and get a bit of a ‘pick me up’.


Another highlight of the experience was that I got to see my friend, Izzy, who had moved out to Spain earlier on in the year and was competing for Spain in the Euros. It was really good to see her again and catch up properly.


I finished racing within the first two days of the competition and so spent the rest of my time in Apeldoorn training. I enjoyed exploring new places to ride. I joined various group rides with others on the GB Cycling Team who had also finished racing. The roads in the Netherlands were lovely and quiet, but unsurprisingly flat. By the end of the week, I finally got to grips with whose right of way it was. I also went back to the track in the evenings and cheered on the remaining riders. It ended up being a very successful week for Great Britain and I loved being a part of that team environment.







Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page