Race start! The Ipstones 5 was another new race for me this year and not just a new race but a new place too... I'm still getting to know the area around Stoke-on-Trent and the little village of Isptones on the edge of the Peak District National Park was an unfamiliar destination. I knew two things about the race... one, it is part of a fundraising day at the village fire station and two, it goes up! I've had a good few weeks of training since launching myself on the comeback trail , so I was hoping for good things. Race sign-up was efficient and I then completed a short warm up to prepare my legs for the hilly miles to come, especially the promised 1 mile up with which the race starts. The field seemed smaller than many of the NSRRA races I've completed, but there were still plenty of familiar faces as we lined up at 3.30pm outside the fire station to get underway. Downhill: #636 thanked me for waiting until after the photo before overtaking! It w...
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