There have been only a few appearances since our last correspondence.
Week 3 was short and sweet. Race started well, myself and
Simon in green but I punctured after 30 minutes.
Week 4 was a tight stretch. Having spent the day in London, I
was called back to the office at lunch time and then had to make my way back
into London and then back out to Leighton. By the time I got back to the train
station, I ran out to my bike, pedalled home like a maniac for a quick grab of
my stuff, sling the bike in the boot and zoom off to Milton Keynes. On my way
there I saw someone in front of me with a bike in the back. Must be someone
doing the 3-4 race, nobody would leave it this late… turns out it was Gareth
and he was just a late as I was. Now there are two crazy drivers weaving in and
out of traffic, cutting up roundabouts and generally driving like a pair of
nutters. As we screeched into the car park at the bowl and ran into the hut, we
spotted Neil there for his first race of the year. When we tried to sign in we
were sadly informed that we were too late, probably a good job as the race
starts at 6:00 and it was 5:57 and I was still in my work clothes.
We hopped up to the start line to see the group off, I watched
a few laps then made off for the pub. I later found out that Neil punctured
after 15 minutes so back luck start to the season for him. The pub was open
though so not a total right-off.
Somewhere in between there I took part in the NORPIP charity
bike ride at Silverstone. Essentially, your allowed 3 hours to ride around part
of the circuit at whatever pace you feel like, soaking up the lovely
surroundings. there were a few other guys from the club too, Gareth M, the two
Neils G and B myself and James completed the group. I thought we would start
off at a leisurely pace and build up to speed, I think we got a bit carried
away and went straight into 25mph laps.
After a while, we picked up James and then Neil who arrived a
bit later on. Once on the move, we kept it up with a good strong rotation. We were
clearly the fastest group out there and it was obvious to others what we were
up to, needless to say, some folks thought they could show us up and come
storming past us on the straight, all well and good until they realised they
would have to keep that pace for the rest of the night to stay ahead
(unlikely). Some more thoughtful guys decided to join our train. Something I was
unaware of until about three rotations and caught a glimpse. At one stage we
had about 10 other guys on the back. Eventually we realised what was going on
and made sure that the tagalongs had their turn on the front. Some were clearly
new to the idea and struggled to maintain our pace when they hit the front,
others were super helpful and stayed with us for a good while.
Anyway, eventually as it got a bit colder and starting to
loose light, we knocked it on the head and rolled around for a few more laps to
really enjoy the race circuit.
Back to the bowl… the following two weeks were wet. Actually
one week was wet, the other was Super Wet. I don’t like riding in the wet. Not on
my new bike. Its clean and nice and I don’t want it getting wet. Also I get
wet, which I don’t like too much. The first super wet week was horrible, the
track was slippy, the group was small and I didn’t trust anyone including
myself to stay upright which meant I was at the back playing catchup for the
whole race. Also It was raining so hard that I couldn’t see, and there was a
river running round the inside of the track. Horrible. I finished 20th
out of 23 I think. Thankfully James loved it. Reminded him of home apparently!
Nutter
The week after that was just wet, not super wet. We also had
a big crowd of riders in green. Myself and Wilfrid pitched up together, James,
Gareth and Neil were there too. A good strong group and hopefully we could do
some damage. The track was wet again so I was still a bit nervous about the
slippy surface. On in particular was concerning me just before the climb to the
finish is an off camber bend and you cant freewheel it cos its at the bottom. Every
time you turn the crank, you can feel the back slip and slide. Because of this I
spent the race at the back again, no big issue but it did leave me playing
catch up once more. The other guys were
doing well, mixing ip up in the middle of the pack, I saw some of the guys go
off the front once or twice. Wilfie dropped off the back after a while and we
found him later on where he managed to hold on till the end.
After a brief spell at the front at the 5 to go point, I thought
I’d be ok to stay up in the group, it wasn’t so and I found myself at the back
again. I just don’t have the confidence in the wet. Anyway, last lap came round
and pace picked up. It had been fairly quick race so was strung out by the last
bend. I had nothing to lose so gave it a bit of effort up towards the finish,
passed lots of tired looking folks and crossed the line. Counting the people in
front, I had managed to get top 10. Turns out it was ninth so not such a bad
day afterall. Toby was there for MK too and placed 5th.
Good fun racing with a group of our team, not quite as
dominating as we had hoped but that’s something we can work on for sure.
So this last week I was sin the office and with no hope of
getting back to Milton Keynes for the race I thought I would give the Hemel 10
mile TT a go. I have been looking forward to trying it out as their hilly event
was so fantastically organised, its right on our doorstep and its practicaly on
my way home. I took my bike to work so wouldn’t have to worry about rushing
anywhere. I also think I much prefer a TT to circuit racing, nobody to get in
your way and its all down to your lungs and legs, no race brain needed!
Signed up, paid my monies and went for a quick warm up spin.
I know the course so I knew when I would push, when I could relax a little and
where the finish line was!
I was 8th out so had someone to aim for rather
than last time being out on my own, sadly I had mr speedy, Luke Clark, behind
me who I knew would pass me fairly soon. He’s the guy who shot past me on the
Hilly one. so off I went, after a very short period, I caught my minute man
which I wasn’t expecting too as he looked the part (just goes to show). About 1/3
way through, I was passed by the guy behind. Not ideal as I was hoping to be a
few minutes behind him at least. At this rate I’d be miles behind. Oh well…
So on I went, I didn’t stay too far behind him and I thought
if I stay within sight, I can only be 2 minutes at most behind. I went round the
roundabout and back up the hill ready to wind it up. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention,
I had an awful cough. This ride didn’t make it any better! By now I had to make
a bit more of an effort cos we are on the way home. I did pass a couple more
riders before the next roundabout which made me feel I was doing well. Over the
final junction and only a few miles left
so pile on a few more coals but leave something for the last little hill finish.
I crossed the line in a roaring rage, and slinked back to
the hall to get times. I waited around for everyone to come in, pausing for 3-4
second where I wasn’t coughing my lungs up. After all that I posted a time of
23:26. Over a minute quicker than my previous 10 mile TT of 24:29. It’s a different
course so cant take too much from that but more importantly I had set a time
for this course to aim for next time. Checking the finishing timesheet, I managed
the 5th fastest time of 39 riders. Two minutes behind the fastest
rider @ 21:27 and yes it was Mr Clark of TMG Horizon. I don’t feel so bad
knowing that.
So there we are. Sorry its so long. Sometimes I forget to
care.
