Morning After The Night Before

National Criterium Championships, Beverley, East Yorkshire, 29th July 2011

Tom Leading out at National Criterium Championships 2011 - ©Copyright Larry Hickmott VeloUK

The National Criterium Championships have been and gone and I’ve just woken up Saturday morning ‘the day after the night before’, it’s a strange feeling waking up with a bronze medal. Last night I was over the moon with it but now it’s sat here looking at me all I can imagine is that it’s not a medal but a giant clock that’s already started counting down to the championships for 2012, which is annoying… really annoying!

But don’t get me wrong, this clock can count all it want’s, I’m happy this morning. Since this exact day last year when I woke up having been caught in the last half lap on the very same course at the 2010 version of the title race I’ve had this annoying itch, in the back of my brain telling me how

Ian Wilkinson - Endura Racing, Graham Briggs - Rapha Condor Sharp, Tom Murray - Sigma Sport Specialized on the podium - ©Copyright Larry Hickmott VeloUK

close I was to pulling off a medal, standing on the podium for both myself and the team, taking the plaudits and giving the interviews. I didn’t fancy another year of that so I put a lot into that Friday night and I’d like to think I rode it to win in my own attacking style, sometimes you have to risk losing to win a race. You can’t be a headless chicken but you have to give it some stick every once in a while. I saw in the post-race reaction’s that Rapha Condor Sharp expected me to attack going into that last lap, that’s no surprise the amount of criterium events the British riders have ridden together this year they probably knew where I was going to eat three hours before the event too, but there was no chance of me just laying down and accepting a medal without shooting for the stripes.

I don’t have any regret’s this morning I can’t think of too many things I’d have done differently so although this bronze medal has now put another itch in the back of my brain telling me on a loop that there’s a national jersey I was pretty close to there, this is a different itch, it’s not annoying me now, well not just yet anyway.

Minty