Bletchingley 2/3

[Rogan]

Get well Dan.... Sounds nasty - hope to see you back in the saddle very soon mate.

[Antloony]

More pics

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Sylv at the finish.

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Paul couldn't make it 3 wins on the trot.

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Hard work Paul?

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[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

Sounds very nasty. Get well soon, Dan.

Best wishes

Jon

[LeeS]

Had the choice of either playing twister with the kids or giving Dan some moral support so decided on the latter as it seemed a little less painful.

He's compus mentis and reading his book and magazines which must be a good sign. He has had tests and scans which showed the kidneys got a bit of a battering when the wing mirror hit him in the side. As Sylv said he is in for a while to give the kidneys a chance to recuperate without the need to go to the lengths of surgery which I'm sure he is keen to avoid.

I took up a manly sized bar of chocolate which in hindsight was not ideal because the ward must have been about 140 degrees. So if anybody goes up there and sees a large brown patch on his bedsheets its not that he's become incontinent but my lack of forward planning.

[Marek]

Managed to watch some of the race, looked pretty tough in the break, nice result Sylv. Sorry to hear about Dan, that sounds horrible. If the kidneys can manage it I think that you are allowed to drink Guinness in hospital.

Get well soon.

Cheers

Marek....

[Sylv]

Some great photos there. Sorry you missed out on the race Keith.

Well writing race reports is usually like my favourite thing to do first thing on a Monday, but I'm actually going to be quite busy so here goes now.

We started off after neutralised climb and I was quite content to spend the first half of a lap mid-field, but I noticed that almost straight away Paul looked keen to sit near the front, so I moved up towards him just in case anything kicked off early. It was quite uneventful until we reached the series of three climbs on the way back. The good thing about a selective course like Bletch is that if you stay near the front there, soon enough it will break, almost naturally. So that's what I did, and lo and behold at the top of the climb to the finish a few of us were away.

We drilled it on the long drag which thankfully on the day had a nice tailwind, and then on the downhills which are always faster in a small group. We were working well but it was still early, and half a lap later the bunch had caught us. The aim for the next half lap was to have a good rest and stay on the correct side of the wheels depending on which way were were going into the wind.

End of lap two I was good enough again to make it to the front on the climbs again, and this time was part of the attack. A group of four of us got away, Jules from VCL (good crosser), Ben from Dynamo, Mc Carthy from C.Kingdom and me, and we made sure we quickly got a good enough gap. So it was straight into through and off mode, with varying modes dictated by Jules and Ben depending on our direction towards the wind, echelon etc. We were taking good even turns and it looked like it could work out.

Somehow I found myself at the front pretty much everytime at the pub corner at the top of the last climb where the big vocal ACC crew was standing, promised I wasn't showboating it just happened like that. End of lap 3 though I made sure I was at the back for the planned bottle change so as to not take out anyone, thanks to the team of expert bottle-handlers it went very smoothly and was very helpful as two 750ml bottles do weigh a ton.

Despite asking a few people we couldn't get time gaps until later on. I did check my lap times and, after having done lap 3 in 25min, we lost 45s on the following lap, and then another 20s on the one after that. But when we did get a time gap it was 1'20 so that was encouraging. Now came the time to carefully balance between working hard enough to stay away, and try not do too much in view of the finish. You start looking at each other too, as you know realised you're with a chance to win it. The Cycle Kingdom looked like he was flagging a bit. Jules was pulling long strong turns but ended every one with an out of the saddle stint which, as I was in his wheel, was a bit disruptive to the rythm, and was running out of steam on the climbs. Ben looked like the strongest to me, I don't think I saw him going out of the saddle once. I started easing off ever so slightly on each of my turns. At the same time too I was starting to feel a bit tired for the first time.

Following lap though Roy at the gravelly corner shouted something about 30s but we didn't get to hear what he said next, so just assumed that the bunch was getting back onto us. I had been hoping that all the Dynamos, and of course Addiscombe, would have had policed it enough to prevent chasing. Still we decided to push on as this was still a gap. The Kingdom guy was now pulling much stronger turns and I realised he'd probably been bluffing. Then we heard the cars and knew it looked to be soon over. And then next time round at the gravelly corner on the last lap, we got caught, not by the bunch but by an escape group of about ten or more, policed by Marcus and five Dynamos. I was hoping all these guys would be more tired than us after making the junction. There was indeed a lull for a minute or so, but then we approached the first hills and the attacks started.

Powerdrill was on the first to go, no-one immediately followed, and it was only on the next climb that he got caught. More Dynamos came to the front, it did really look good for them. Marcus was also pulling strong turns chasing and so. Then the other Cycle Kingdom guy attacked early before the last climb, and went alone. Bit of a lull and it was already too late, think the other one who'd been in the break then went too, and from there on it was every man for himself most likely fighting for 3rd place, I was still near the front of the rest and trying to hold my position. That hill felt so much worse, and longer, than everytime before. Just horrible. I was with Jules but he dropped back and so did Marcus, now was in 3rd but with some 50m to go just couldn't get any faster whereas two Dynamos, including Ben, managed to come round for some kind of sprint without me being to be able to do anything about it.

Was a bit deflated after that but it had been a good ride overall, being in a couple of breaks and still managing to make it to the finish in the front group. Felt awful for a minute or so then quickly recovered. Thanks again to all ACCers on the day.

Best wishes to Dan who should be on foot in not too long. Here he is sleeping soundly in his hospital bed
[img]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5150/5607155208_e6db0b8361_m.jpg[/img]
(Not really - it's in Frejus)

[Amy]

[quote="Ian MunneryA1size"]Nice pics Ant,
shame about that old " dumped " Roberts left lying about in the last pic

[Amy]

Good to hear that Dan, despite being battered and bruised, is on the road to recovery

[higg]

More photos here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... dc20f96194

I've tried to put them in order so they might show a rough order of events.


Aodan.


PS

Hope you get better soon Dan, that's an awful thing to happen.

[Ghaleb]

Hope you get well soon Dan.

Nice write up Sylv and a good result!

[Marcus]

That course is a b*tch, and I didn't even ride it, so a harty congratulations to Sylv on his 5th place and excellent write up and all the other Acc competitors whom took part. Lets hope you all get as much support from your other races this season.

ps
Have a good rest Dan, you'll be back stronger.

[nick de meyer]

well done sylv sounds like a great race and v tough! hope dan is ok v soon

[George]

Paul and I went to visit Dan in mayday this afternoon.

He's doing well, not too much pain now and just has to wait in hospital for the internal bleeding to stop.
He has to stay still on his back in bed so no walking around yet, he's in good spirits and looking forward to getting back on another bike.

He's in Queens 2 on the 2nd floor of Orange ward near the main Mayday hospital entrance.

[EdO]

Well done Sylv on 5th and to everyone who took part or helped out. Hope you make a swift recovery Dan.

Cheers

ed

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

Great fun. Great report Sylv and a brilliant ride, and some great photos.Really good to see so many ACCers and friends marshalling, helping out, and supporting the race. two groups rode from the Pine - must have been about 20 of us and another 20 or so made their own way.
I marshalled at the Coopers Hill turning along with Sam, Ron, John and Ben. Although not as popular marshalling point as the turn by the Prince Albert it does have the delights of the Queen's Head ( a local pub for local people ) 20 yds down the road. We popped in occasionally to use the loo and, let's face it, it just wouldn't have been right, rude even, not to partake in quick glass of lemonade in their rather nice beer garden.
Things went very smoothly and efficiently - most drivers were happy to wait apart from a white van driver who decided that patience isn't a virtue and pulled out from the queue just as the peloton came around the corner . Fortunately he stopped after a lot of shouting and reversed back. One complaint from a woman motorist saying that several riders going down the hill were on her side of the road and had to avoid them. She was fine but a bit shaken up. We apologised and said we'd pass it on.
Got to the finish just in time to see the final slog to the line and cheer the riders on from the side of the hill. What an atmosphere - just like Paris-Roubaix!!
Well done everyone!!!