Two nail breaking punctures, first race of 2012 and LOVING THE NEW KIT!

I started out on a sunny Saturday ride with local riders, working hard and doing reasonably well, until my bike started to feel a bit like a bouncy castle! Turned out to be a slow puncture. Fantastic, my nails had been freshly painted the night before all nice and pink. After fixing the puncture (with nails now black and chipped) I got back on with no further issues. The following day I went out again although this time it was raining/sleeting. Half an hour in and ANOTHER puncture! Just my luck... I'd already given up with the not so pink nails, but with all the rain I also looked like a drowned rat! After training hard around Shropshire up long climbs, Hope Valley, Marshbrook and Church Stretton... feeling very tired and cold after four hours. Food and sleep was needed!!

On the bright side, I had my first race of 2012 the following week - very exciting stuff. Jazzing up the race bike with glossy Fizik bar tape and all the little last touches, like a big kid in a sweet shop!

When race day finally arrived, meeting all my team mates was very exciting and they were all lovely! It was great to be part of the team, they made me feel very welcome! Racing in my new kit was really exciting, I absolutely love it and my Mum commented that she 'wouldn't miss me in races this year!!'. In the race, I managed to stay up from out of trouble, working hard on the front and sitting in to recover. Unfortunately two riders managed to get away, I did think to bridge the gap and had a couple of digs off the front, but couldn’t go on my own. However I was pleased with my performance for my first race of the season finishing 10th, surprised myself! A big well done to my team mates too, particularly Mel who won the bunch kick for third place! Hopefully Nicola's crank won't fall off next time!

Looking forward to next weekend racing Salt Ayre and spending the weekend with the girls in the Lakes for our first proper training ride of the year :)

Hayley x

How I discovered cycling and got into womens bike racing

I first discovered the sport watching my Uncle racing in the Newport Nocturne. Followed by my brother racing mountain bikes and road, passing endless water bottles! I then hung up my running shoes and converted from cross country/athletics to cycling.

I joined my local club of which runs through 3 generations in my family, Stan's/Paramount CRT and started riding a road bike. I had caught the cycling bug! With Halesowen just down the road, I thought i'd try my hand at track cycling. At first I couldn't quite get my head round a bike WITHOUT BRAKES!! However I soon took to it and I started competing in local circuit races and track leagues. The enjoyment from the racing and training made me want to do more, I loved it!

I then joined Halesowen due to there being younger riders around my age and over the next couple of years started racing the National women's road series, National women's track omniums and did a couple of races in Belgium. It was a great experience racing with International riders.

This winter I've been braving the cold training long miles, turbo and roller sessions and circuit training sessions. I am very excited to be riding for Maxgear this year, being part of a women's team racing and looking forward to the challenges along the way. Can't wait to meet you all!! :)