Reflection on my 2019 season and new beginnings

Overall I would say the 2019 season was a successful one, on and off the bike.
There is no denying 2019 has been the most difficult year of my life, but it has also been most successful. Racing and trying to pull off some decent A levels at the same time is tough, but it seems to have gone past in a blur.

I started off the season in March with some respectable results regionally. I was very lucky to have the opportunity to race two Nations cups, with Storey racing and Liv awol at Healthy ageing tour and Omloop Van Borsele. All I can say is that I won't be in a rush to race in the snow in Holland with 140 girls crashing left, right and centre. It was a great experience nevertheless, but it certainly wasn't for me.

Around the end of April I had a break from racing to focus on my exams, I returned back to racing at Ilkley criterium, which was very a much a shock to my legs. That weekend I had tour of Reservoir, which is almost certainly one of the toughest women's Nationals of the year. I wasn't feeling too optimistic after Ilkley 4 days before, however it was one of my strongest races of the year, finishing 20th overall.

For the rest of the season I picked up my first top 10 and 20s in women's Nationals, which I was very happy with as I really wasn't expecting much this season. I then finished my season with 18th overall at the women's Ras na mBan, and my last race was Watersley ladies challenge Nations cup. By this point I had pretty much cracked, I just about managed to get round. I was a little disappointed with the quality/lack of junior National women's races, but unfortunately the junior girls numbers seemed to really lack this year.

A few weeks after my last race I started Loughborough University. At the start of the year I thought I wanted to take a gap year to race abroad, but after my experience of  Nations cups I decided it wasn't the right thing for me. I've been really enjoying a fresh start here, and the support and facilities available at Loughborough are amazing. I'm really excited for a new start on their programme racing both track and road next season.

I would also like to say a huge thank you to Vic and Scott from Team Jadan Weldtite for all their hard work to support the team all season, it wouldn’t have been possible without them.

Thanks for reading,
Liv