Good to see you with a number on your back Sean, nice one.
Wasn't expecting much from today having been sick over Christmas. That said, I didn't feel as bad as I thought I might. I opened up the hostilities before even a lap had been completed.
[img]http://www.cycleweb.co.uk/newsite/albums/imp098/IMG_9989001.sized.jpg[/img]
As you can see, along with one of my new team mates, Josh. But it was short lived. If I'm honest, it felt hard work. But then as you can see and as your probably aware, it was effing cold. So after that I settled back into the bunch for the majority of the race, I loved being back into a fast moving bunch, shoulder to shoulder. Over 3 months since my last race, I've missed it. Even with the conditions, I did end up enjoying the race.
[img]http://www.cycleweb.co.uk/newsite/albums/imp098/IMG_10046001.sized.jpg[/img]
By the last quarter of the race I was feeling a bit more lively, so was sure to mark the usual suspects. As a team, we had no team tactics, we were just out to test ourselves. Of course, we are not London Dynamo, so there was a good degree of team work at times! Firstly, another team mate Jake made it into the final move of the day. Which was shut down soley by Russell Painter of the mighty Paragon. So it was to be a sprint. I kind of fancied it myself, but wasn't sure how I'd fare. So I found Josh's wheel, and made sure we both made into a decent position in which to contest the sprint. After having to shout to him to move out and round some dead wood to avoid getting swamped, he had the inside line on me. So while I was having to power around the right we ended up side by side with about 300 to go. We both got out the saddle, but as soon as I did I knew I didn't have it. So I moved aside and let him through. Unfortunately he didn't quite use people's draught effectively enough, so didn't quite have the legs for the win. But it was good to see that when the two of us really are working together, we're gonna win.
[img]http://www.cycleweb.co.uk/newsite/albums/imp098/IMG_12690010.sized.jpg[/img]
As you can see, the finish was tight. With Jerone Walters just pipping Chris Moores. Overall then, a good race. I myself was probably somehwere in the 10-20th positions. None of my team have raced yet this winter, so it was great to see we can be so competitive against the guys who have been racing there every week since the beginning of December. I have one more at Hillingdon on the 24th, then an early isolated return to the road for the tradtitional season opening Perfs Pedal Race on the 8th February. Also, I'm just sorting out a new blog at the moment, so stay tuned and that will be the place to go if your interested in the goings on of the best team in the south east
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Cheers,
Adam
p.s check out [url]http://www.ingeardevelopmentsquad.com/100109hillingdon.html[/url] for my boss' take on the day...