Already a pioneer of Irish gravel racing, and Irish women's cycling generally, Emma Porter is currently recovering from a big weekend. Now based in Girona, Spain, but having competed at home for UCD Cycling Club, Porter made the final podium of Traka 360 in big company last weekend.
While she told stickybottle the race - just over 360km - was "definitely unknown territory", as her longest previous ride was 285km, she emerged 3rd. Porter finished behind two of the stars of the international women's gravel scene; winner Amity Rockwell (Trek-Pas-Maurtens-Schwalbe) and runner-up Sarah Strum (Specialized-Sram-Rapha).
Porter added she was "still taking it all in" after making the podium in such a prestigious race. "I can't really believe it all happened in a single day. I was confident my legs were in good shape going into the race, my concerns were more around how my back would handle 15 plus hours in the saddle.
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"And I was concerned about whether I could eat what I needed to in order to keep going and that my stomach would cooperate."
After a much faster start to the race than she anticipated, with 100km completed Porter found herself in a group of three chasing five riders who had pressed on out front, including Rockwell and Strum. However, at that point Porter felt she was handling the pace better than the two women she was with, even though one of them was pressing hard on the climbs.
"I just decided to stop being caught up in the race and tried to enjoy it as much as possible out there," she said. "And the change in mindset saw me drop the two riders I was with through a technical section and pass three of the riders up ahead in the next 100km."
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Having moved into 3rd place with a great ride, Porter said when she arrived at the feed stop with 247km covered she took her time there. She also heard there were just two riders ahead of her - thanks to the live GPS tracking of everyone in the event.
"I knew the GPS trackers could make mistakes so I told myself I was probably fourth," she said of not wanting to get carried away with the podium ride that was now on the cards. "I just told myself to keep riding at a pace I could tolerate and take in as much of the day as I could and try to keep my position."
When she hit the final climb - "it was brutal" - Porter knew she was being pursued by two riders not far behind her. She focussed on getting up that climb, and down the descent, without being caught, knowing she would then have a great chance of holding her position to the finish.
"Knowing the trails made a huge difference when it got dark," she said of that point of the race. "When I decided I wanted to do the race months ago my aim was to be in by midnight. Closer to the race I could see the shape I was in and looking at the list of women racing I thought maybe anywhere from 3rd to 8th was realistic depending on how the day played out.
"If it went well 3rd to 5th was definitely in reach. I had put Amity and Sarah as 1-2 in my head. Amity has won Unbound and Sarah is smashing the Lifetime Grand Prix in the States, so I expected them to take the top spots this time.
"I knew the course quite well and I had friends throughout the day, between other racers and at the feed stops, which made a big difference mentally. My dad came out to follow it too. And the whole team was at the finish when I rolled in so I was lucky to know, and feel, I had that support all day. I had the best legs I've ever had. Aside from the last climb I felt strong until the finish."
