Bedford International 2-day 5th-6th May

Our team of Jo Tindley, Adel Tyson-Bloor, Bex Heath, Caroline Harding, Nicci Meadows, Ellie Gilham tackled the 2-day 4-stage race.  The first stage being the 6-up team time trial saw the grirls put in a very strong ride to finish 5th team overall after the stage, not bad seeing as the first time they'd ridden together was on the way to the start!  Unfortunatley, Nicci had to pull out of the race at this stage through illness.  The second stage was a 50mile bunch race on the road.  The girls put in an excellent performance here with Ellie, Jo, Adel and Bex safely in the bunch.  Bad luck hit Ellie though as she was brought down with 3km to go so had to solo home.  The remaining 3 girls finished in the bunch.  Caroline withdrew during this stage.  The next day started with an individual TT where all the girls performed very well, Adel sneeking into the top 10 was an awesome ride.  The last stage was a road stage and Adel, Jo and Bex all went into this stage in 19th, 20th and 24th position, all to play for.  The tough hilly circuit sorted the riders out.  Being a very wet day, Adel suffered with her grip on the road and got distanced on the descent.  After some gentle persuasion she carried on riding like a woman posessed for the rest of the stage.  Jo and Bex finished with the bunch and ended upi 16th and 17th overall in the GC, which was excellent.  Ellie, having got tailed of the bunch with 2laps remaining, suffering with her tiny junior gears on the descent, meant that she finished her 1st major senior race in 35th position, a star in the making.  The team finished 5th overall.