Anna’s Blog

Isle of Man Youth Tour

I really enjoyed doing the tour, and it was my first year doing it. The first stage was a 1 mile TT on the waterfront and was completely flat. I came 11^th in the first stage of the B girls. The second stage was very hilly on closed roads and the weather was horrible. It was so bad that they shortened are race by 2 laps. We were go to do 4 laps and 5 times up the finishing hill but it was changed to 2 laps and 3 time up the finishing hill. This was my favourite stage because I came 5^th in the stage and moved up to 5^th in the overall standings. The last stage was a flat crit next to the sea. I didn’t do as well in this stage because I got dropped from the A/B girls (the A girls raced with the B girls) bunch. I came 7^th overall in the tour and I really enjoyed doing it. I will definitely try to do it again next year. There was also a very good presentation diner that everyone went to, and the food was really nice.

North West Youth Tour

This is one of my favourite tours and it was my 5^th year doing it. The first stage was a small hill climb in Lancaster. I came 15^th in this stage out of 40 girls. The second stage was an hour long crit in preston, which I finish in the around half way up the bunch. The third stage was in Lancaster Salt Ayre leisure centre. The race went ok and I stayed in the bunch but I didn’t get a very good finish in the bunch because I found it hard to get round people. The last stage was the same course as the last one, but just the other way round. I did better in this race because I attacked on the last corner and came 8^th in the sprint. I was really happy with this result. Overall I came 16^th in the tour. I really like doing this tour and will hopefully do it next year.

Errigal International Youth Tour

This was the first time doing this tour and I really enjoyed it. The first stage was a very hilly course and was about an hour long in Churchhill in Donegal. There was about 70 people altogether in this stage, I came 3^rd girl. I found this stage really hard. The second stage was a 2.5 mile TT which had a gradual hill in it. I came 2^nd girl in this stage which I was really pleased with. The third stage was on the same day and I had another big hill at the finish. I also finished 2^nd girl in this race. The last stage was a 35 mins crit in, Letterkenny. I thought this race was very fast and I got drop from the main bunch about half way through. I came second in this race but it was very close between me and Anna Flynn. Overall I came 2^nd girl and I think I came 31^st out of everyone. I enjoyed this race a lot and I will hopefully do it again next year.