by Toks » Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:42 am
Cloudy, Rainy, Sunny, Cloudy, Rainy, Sunny - Hey welcome to GOODWOOD! I arrived at the ridiculously early time of 9.30 despite the fact my race didn?t start till 11.30. There was just enough time to say ?good luck? to Gavin and Simon who were both psyching themselves up for the start of the 4th cat race. A few minutes later they we?re off. The bunch of 60 riders stayed glued together for more than an hour. On the penultimate lap I yelled at Simon, ?Get to the front?. I knew Gavin?s goal was to finish in the bunch and that plan was being carried out faultlessly. For Simon to get points and make that jump to 3rd cat (Hi Ajay) he needed to make the top six. At Goodwood, the finish line is about 80 metres from a chicane. On that last lap you need to enter the chicane in one of the top five positions to be guaranteed a placing. As the riders approached the chicane for the final time Simon looked to be in 4 or 5th place. With 50 metres to go a powerful sprint saw the big fella surge to the front. ?YES he?s going to win?, ?Go on Sime!? It looked like he?d done just enough for top spot. Damn! With a couple of metres to go he was nudged back into 3rd position? Job done! Well done Simon, and equally well done Gavin - finishing safely in the bunch.
Col du aubisque, Col du Marie Blanc are all fading memories now - no more novelle cuisine! From now on it?s a strict diet of meat and potatoes mate: road races and crits with thirty and forty something blokes, some of whom would look a little out of place on a Pyrenean climb. So here we are then guys its lap 6 of 18 and ACC representatives in the 3rd cat race are yours truly ?yo-yo boy? and Brian. Not exactly a crowd pleaser this one, the bunch of 60-70 riders remains a oval shaped mass and not even the most tentative attacks are given a chance. All runaways and sneaky chancers are snapped up within seconds? A few laps later we?re taken over by the E12 group, I catch a glance at Brett Perez who looks like his half asleep he?s so comfortable. With 4 laps to go my average heart rate is still only 152 and the average speed is a fairly manageable 25mph.
A few Agiskoviner riders surge to the front in a five main train so I and couple of London Dynamo guys give chase. Now with 3 laps to go I?m on the front and my heart rate hits 175, I flick out an elbow and park myself back in the bunch. As the commissionaire shouts out ?last lap? I steal back a few places and re-enter the top 15. The pace slows once again and everyone gets ready for the inevitable bunch sprint - one last swig from a drinks bottle, a tightening of shoe straps and hands in the drops. In no time at all the chicane looms for the final time. Have I followed the advice I gave to Simon? A slight wobble here, a bit of break there and Phew! we?re safely (on the penultimate lap they?d apparently been a crash) through the chicane and the sprint begins in earnest. ?What a Bozo!. For some reason I forget to stand up and sprint?. [Don?t ask, I know]. Never mind this time my lucky number is 7. Take care Dudes!?!!