MADDI ALDAM-GATES ‘A FISTFUL OF FIRSTS!'

The past month has been a series of cycling ‘firsts’ for me. June ended with a week away on a Skoda DSI Academy training camp, my first time meeting everyone, and included three races: my first ever race in a mixed field of men and women, my first ever time trial, and my first ever National-A race, the women’s CICLE Classic at Melton Mowbray.

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It was a real whirlwind of a week, with minimal taper and recovery between the races. The crit race with the men at Thruxton didn’t go brilliantly; it was brutally fast off the start, and most of us Skoda riders got dropped halfway through. The next day was the 10-mile TT at Castle Combe – where most of us were already aching on the start line! I was on my road bike and clocked 24:31, which seemed OK, as it wasn’t too much slower than rivals on TT bikes. Next up was a recce of the CiCLE Classic course with Lizzie Banks (Ceratizit-WNT), who was really kind and helpful.