Wheeling update, inc my first race

First race
I have now completed my first proper race! It was only very short (100m), it was restricted to members of the club, and I certainly wasn't setting any records, but I was still keen to do well (you may have noticed I can get competitive).

This.

We arrived at the club a bit early to 'chair up' and then had a brief bit of time to spend warming up on the track. After last week's session with the unco-operative chair, it felt reeeeally good to be back in one that did fit me properly! I zoomed around the track quite happily, enjoying the feeling of being back in the chair and back on a nicely floodlit track after all those weeks of squinting in the dark and trying to prevent seizures by gazing determinedly away from oncoming bikes (please, cyclists, don't use flashing lights...they're harder for motorists to see, drivers can't judge where you are with them, and THEY GIVE ME SEIZURES!). Fortunately for us, Alice, our fastest wheeler, was off this week with a bad cold, which gave the rest of us a shot at doing well.

It transpired that there would be two separate races and that I would go off in the first, faster race. There were four of us in this race and I was in lane 5 (we each had two lanes to be in in case there were any steering issues!). Having not done a race on an athletics track for a while, and having never done a wheelchair one, I wasn't really sure what to expect at the start. In rowing, they shout the club names and then 'Attention, Go!' I had forgotten that 'Ready, set, go' was a thing, which made me look like a complete amateur but I didn't want to get it wrong and go too soon or too late!

The tension rises...

Anyway, what it really was was 'Ready [move the chair to the line], set [brace and breathe!], <AIRHORN> [GO!].' I focussed on making sure that I had some good deep breaths beforehand, and on keeping my chair nice and straight in the first few pushes. Having two lanes definitely took the pressure off a bit in terms of steering. After the first 10m I could feel that I was ahead, and at 15m I even realised that I'd gone in front of the far more experienced racer on the far right. From then on, I just wanted to make sure I stayed ahead and kept calm until the end - which worked fine! I crossed the line, slammed the compensator on then looked behind to see a fairly comfortable margin. I let the chair drift on (it did about another 50m, which is something of a record for me) then turned back to join the others.

Not that fast, but not bad for a first attempt.

After our race we watched the second race come through and cheered them all, then headed out onto the cycle paths for our main session. I don't fully remember what it was, but I remember feeling that I had wings attached and that I was finally beginning to get the hang of it. After two or three really difficult sessions, where I felt that I had no strength, power or energy, it felt amazing to be moving more smoothly than ever.

True dat.

A week later we were back for longer distances. Alice (Miss Speedy) was back but I was second fastest after her. The session was difficult because it was very wet and our gloves kept slipping on the pushrims (plus it was freezing every time we stopped) but I enjoyed it nonetheless and we all went back a happy bunch. Best of all, when I got back to the track my mum was there waiting with Rosie, who was delighted to see me and got very excited at seeing 'my' new wheels.