Dani King Blog: Vision 1 Racing

Dani King Vision 1 Racing

I’ve just started my first racing season with Vision 1 Racing and so far so good. The first 3 races were in Italy and were the longest and hardest races I’ve ever ridden, each being over 100k. I didn’t start off with the best of luck, just before the first race I went for my last loo visit and decided to drop my race radio down the toilet (not a good idea) Luckily Stef had spare ones. The races went well, the biggest shock was the aggressiveness and importance of positioning – in Britain it’s not too hard holding your position at the front of the peleton but in the bigger races I’m now experiencing you can’t afford to switch off for one second. After the races it was straight in the van, quick change and back to the hotel. I’d never been so tired in my life, I could hardly keep my eyes open and the girls who I shared a room with (Helen, Aurora and Nicole) said I was sleep talking all night.
After Italy I went back to Wales for the night to see my boyfriend and then back home to Southampton and back to college. I study psychology, P.E and business and I’m counting down the days until my last exam and first day of being a full time bike rider. (63 days to go!) I spent a few weeks at home, going to college, training in the rain and riding a local Surrey League RR then the weekend came to the biggest race of my cycling career, my first World Cup.

Flanders-

Flanders was an amazing experience, the day before the race we all went out for an easy hour and rode some cobbles to get a feel off what it was going to be like and to test our bikes out. It all went well and I was ready to race. The race itself was one of the best I’ve ever ridden despite not finishing because of my chain coming off a number of times on the cobbles. The atmosphere was electric and the race itself was always full on. I was disappointed not to finish but have learnt a lot from the race, including the importance of positioning, knowing where the climbs are to keep eating and drinking throughout the race, but most importantly not dropping my radio down toilet 10 minutes before the start!

Wales

Since Flanders I’ve been staying in Wales at my boyfriend, Matt Rowe’s house where I’ve been able to go out training with him and other good riders which means I’ve got to ride that little bit harder than if I was on my own to keep up. I rode the Good Friday circuit race at Castle Combe which was a bit of a disaster, I slipped off in the rain and went flying over my handle bars landing on my face. Luckily I was just left with a few burns and nothing major so I was back training the next day.
It’s my rest day today ( Monday 13th), just chilling out for the day and getting ready for a competitive bowling match with a few Welsh cyclists tonight.

Dani and Vision 1 Racing are being sponsored by Focus for all their Bike Frames