Dani King Blog: Vision 1 Racing
Here’s a quick Blog update from Nicole Cooke’s Vision 1 Team Rider Dani King.
A lot has happened since I last wrote my blog, the 2 most exciting things have been winning the national crit champs and coming 3rd in the under 23 cat of the national women’s road race on the 27th of June in Abergavenny. I’ll tell you a little about my run up to the event.
After I’d finished my A level exams I flew straight to Italy for a 2 day stage race. (Trentino) This was one of the biggest races I’d ever done and so I was both excited and nervous at the same time. The first thing that hit me was the heat.. I saw 27 degrees at 10am when we were out on a spin the morning before the first stage. The first stage was 106k and pretty flat, it came down to a bunch sprint up hill and I came 21st which I was pleased with as I helped the team. The second day was crazy, when I looked at the profile I’d never seen anything like it in my life, up a mountain for 60k back down, then up another to finish. I rode hard until the 2nd GPM to help out a team mate then finished off the main group. Overall iI was really pleased, Nicole won which was great and was looking forward to the national crit champs which were the day after I got home.
My first national jersey. One of the best achievements in my cycling career was winning the national crit champs. The race was good, girls were aggressive and I knew I had to cover moves and wait for the sprint as my legs weren’t fresh after Italy. I attacked once but got chased down so I knew from then I had to sit in and think about my finish. On the last lap everyone was waiting for someone to go, I lead it out with 200m to go to cross the line first. It was a great feeling and a good fathers day present for my Dad.
The week after the crit champs was the national road race champs so I had an easy week leading up to it whilst in Wales. The night before I stayed at the Celtic Manor with the team which was lush.. big double beds… slippers… strawberries the lot. The morning of the race came and I was really nervous but raring to go and get stuck in. The pace was steady at the start of the race but as soon as we hit the climbs it was ‘full on’. Emma Pooley attacked and formed a break with Nicole and Lizzie which then took the speed out of the main peloton. Unfortunately I missed the break with Katie Colclough and Julia Shaw but knew I had to win the bunch sprint to get a medal in the under 23 category. The last km was tight so I made sure I was round the last corner first, then with 200m to go again lead it out and won the bunch sprint. I’m really pleased with the results and my form at the moment and can’t wait to race again in Germany.
Now it’s time for a little break, I’m off to Barcelona for a quiet 5 days without the bike, then back to the UK for the weekend before leaving for Milan, Italy for a 14 day training camp with the rest of my team mates. I can’t wait to see them!
Ciao, Dani x
Dani King & Vision 1 Racing are being sponsored by Focus for all their Bike Frames
Road Bike Frame: Focus Cayo 2009
Turbo Trainers & Rollers:
To help the team train Paligap have sponsored the Vision 1 Racing Team with: CycleOps Turbo Trainers & Rollers.
Components:
For various cycle components Paligap have sponsored the Vision 1 Racing Team with: Ritchey Cycle Components
