ACC Club Road Race Championships 2011 - Results

[Nick W]

Nice video and the usual great write up from Steve. He (and Sylv) should be club historians!

I thoroughly enjoyed the B race and, frankly, was dead chuffed to have done my bit and still been in bunch at the finish.

Well done to Toks and Huw for the organisation and everyone else who helped out. Great work!

[Andy E]

Well that hurt!! Not surprising really, my last race was July 2009 (Ras de Cymru) and 4 club runs this year was never going to cut it with this class of field. My only aim going into this was to hang on as long as possible. I'd never raced at Hillingdon before but had heard it was flat which was good, but seeing the drag up to the finish during the warm up laps i knew that would hurt in this condition.

Great turn out, the A race looked to have ~20 in it so was hoping i could hide a bit. I hadn't even clipped in when Sylv launched his first attack right from the start line , so for the first few laps i tried to stay near the front and not get caught on the wrong side of a split. I knew that if 3 or more of Paul/Matt/Sylv/Keith/Steve/Rob went then we wouldn't see them again so just had to stick to wheels and hope the race settled down quickly. A few laps in and I was finding it hard, sprinting up the drag every lap so as not to get dropped. Thankfully once the main break went the pace settled down for a few laps and i could recover. Although i didn't want to work i put in a few turns about 8 laps from the finish, at the front with Steve trying to get organised as there's no point sitting in just to sprint for 4th. That sent me waaaay into the red though, and just after i pulled off the front Keith, Paul and Matt attacked on the drag and i was sprinting again just to hold wheels. Over the top i was seeing stars and realised any more turns on the front would see me shelled out soon after, so I had no real choice but to leave it up to others to do the work (sorry guys ).

With 5 laps to go it was looking pretty good that it was going to come back together, but when the catch was made with 3 to go the pace just got quicker and quicker. Those last 3 laps were unbelievably hard for me, every time a gap opened i thought it was game over, but i somehow managed to get back on. The pace just died on the last lap and when Marek went everyone just looked at each other, i honestly thought that was the winning move. The reactions started though and the pace went up, again i was sprinting just to hold wheels, and coming round the final bend i was about 6th i think, sat on Sylv's wheel, and when Steve opened it up right from the bottom i was chasing Sylv again in a flat out sprint which meant i had nothing left to kick again at 200m to go. Amazingly i was still in with a shout of the poduim, with Sylv, Keith, Scott and I seperated by less than a bike length, but i was fading fast and in a world of pain. I somehow managed to keep it upright as we crossed the line but i felt absolutely awful for about 3hrs afterwards

So, 5th place was more than i'd dreamed of beforehand so i'm well chuffed with that all things considered. Steve was a very worthy winner and looked super strong all race, as did Sylv, Matt and Paul as usual. Again a huuge thanks to Toks, Huw and everyone else involved in putting this on and showing such great support on the day. Having done the road race a couple of years ago i must say i preferred the closed circuit, and also think it's better for spectators, less marshall's needed etc.

Great video and pics too

[Sylv]

It was Scott (eventual 3rd place) who got in the second break with us. He’d managed to bridge the gap on his own which meant he was going well, so after giving him a little while to recover from that effort, I was expecting him to start taking turns. Unfortunately he turned out to be just about able to hang on, I reckon three of us working in the break could have been enough to stay away.

That break was actually kind of initiated by Dan. He went out of the saddle at the front on the climb, with Rich in his wheel and I got there in third, half way up the hill I pushed hard and Rich went with me. From the video it looks like Dan did quite some work in the bunch, so well done to him too another rider back from serious injury.

I had attacked from the gun as it is good practise for cyclocross (didn’t prevent me from totally messing my start at the cross yesterday when I couldn’t clip in for about 10 seconds), and so did the first two laps on my own. After being caught I tried on the hill and that was what became the first break with just Rich and me. Rich was mega strong and I had to be wary of not going too hard at the front in order to be able to sit in his slipstream without getting dropped.

In the second break after a while we arranged ourselves into the order I was most comfortable with, which is what I’d done with Adam two years ago – Rich would do the back straight half section into the wind, and I did the climb up to after the s-bend. I don’t usually shout at riders, but after a while I tried to urge Scott to take at least some short turns, as it makes such a difference between being two or three people taking turns.

I really thought we’d stay away though, so when Scott dropped back a little, I told Rich we didn’t have to wait for him. Somehow though he made it back to us shortly after that, so I was getting worried he was just bluffing and easing his way to a sprint victory after feigning tiredness. I think at that point I went to take a turn up the hill, and pushed much harder than usual, which had the desired effect on him. But we got caught by the whole bunch not too long after that, and I tried to recover a bit. I hadn't been aware of Steve bridging to us alone.

I was wary of attacks and there were some from Keith and Paul, all brought back - I followed but was a bit too tired to try make a break of it. Last few laps cat and mouse, when Marek went I just left the sprinters to choose what they wanted to do, I would have been happy for Marek to win if he’d out-foxed them. With the gap he had I reckon he had it, if his legs hadn’t died on the last stretch. I was firmly in Steve’s wheel with someone behind me trying to steal the spot, but think I got confused between him and Mark (same new jersey and size!), and ended up being behind Mark, then realising that Steve was now ahead with a gap, so sprinted up the hill, Steve was miles ahead, but riders left and right were catching up for 2nd place, that almost needed a photo finish!

All in all it was an exciting race, well done again Steve, especially after reading about the work done in the bunch.

[Ghaleb]

Nice right up guys!...and congrats to Steve...he made it look easy!

[quote="Sylv"]Just watched the great video. Huw on it asks for our thoughts on venue for next year - yes - Hog Hill : )

[Toks]

Excellents write ups Sylv, Andy and Steve. Can someone post the result please. - The top 5 A race and the top 5 B race would be great. Cheers

[Phil H]

[quote="Toks"]Excellents write ups Sylv, Andy and Steve. Can someone post the result please. - The top 5 A race and the top 5 B race would be great. Cheers

[higg]

More photos here :

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... f576f6facb



Aodan.

[quote="Ghaleb"]Nice right up guys!...and congrats to Steve...he made it look easy!

[quote="Sylv"]Just watched the great video. Huw on it asks for our thoughts on venue for next year - yes - Hog Hill : )

[Phil H]

Fixed the video yesterday for the sizing/border problems. It's the same only larger and widescreen (so you can see me in my skinsuit properly)

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJo5H7fXgpE[/url]

[quote="Ghaleb"]Nice right up guys!...and congrats to Steve...he made it look easy!

[quote="Sylv"]Just watched the great video. Huw on it asks for our thoughts on venue for next year - yes - Hog Hill : )

[Antloony]

Great write ups guys. Well done Toks and Huw for putting this race together and to all those that made the effort to get there and race. Sorry I couldn't make it, I was away.

As for the result, I predicted both winners, told Ghaleb a couple of weeks ago the race was his if it came down to a sprint. As for the Shadow, only a fool would have bet against him, perfect way to end a brilliant season. Top banana.

[Toks]

Hey B racers, we've been waiting patiently. Great as it is the video doesn't tell the race story so we can't put this to bed yet! We'd love to hear your totally biased accounts of your race. There were a few chaps that lost their racing virginity I'm sure non racers especially woud like to hear your take on the race. What was all that argy bargy about coming around the bottom bend on a few laps ? Come on Ilya, Simon, Mr Malarkey, Phil etc. Ghaleb its actually written in ACC rulesbook that race winners are obliged to write a report, seriously check with Keith.

[Ghaleb]

Is that Toks's rule?

From the start I went on the front did a couple of turns...and then after a few laps I realized that it was going to be a couple of us working at the front as I kept seeing the same faces. There were a few tries from me and other people to get into breaks but every time we got to that long stretch with the head wind the bunch reeled us back. On one of the laps I heard the whistle go and I thought during the briefing that when the whistle goes that would be the final lap... So I asked a couple of people if that is the end of the race?...as it felt too early to finish....and they said no...and just then we got to the 200m sign before the sprint and people started sprinting and so I sprinted but not a full on sprint as I didn't know what was going on, until the end of the race I was told that there was an interim sprint. That aside...the bunch kept together pretty much through the whole race and judging from a couple of attacks I felt that a sprint finish would be beneficial to me...so decided to stick with the bunch until the sprint finish if no one tried to get in a break. And so that's what happened on the last lap on the long headwind stretch the bunch were all still together and just before the left corner that leads to the finish drag Simon took off and Nick followed him... Simon looked strong through out the race so I didn't let that slip and caught Nick's wheel...Nick then slowed down but Simon kept grinding on...so I jumped on Simon's wheel and by now me and Simon had a small gap between us and the bunch. John felt the threat and started to close in on us...I played it safe and stuck on Simon's wheel (thanks Simon for the nice tow up that drag ) until 200m before the sprint and then I gave it a kick and John tried to follow but I got there before him and got the win .

[Toks]

[quote="Ghaleb"] John felt the threat and started to close in on us...I played it safe and stuck on Simon's wheel (thanks Simon for the nice tow up that drag ) until 200m before the sprint and then I gave it a kick and John tried to follow but I got there before him and got the win .

[simon Lythgoe]

Much harder than I thought it'd be, the pace was pretty quick, but it was the tactics and people talking in whispers (some weren't so much whispering) around me that had me most worried. I spent the race trying not to do anything dumb, but wasn't sure what that was as I didn't have a clue what to do, or where to sit in the pack.

After talking to Ghaleb yesterday I understand I need to get myself a license to maybe re-enact that lead-out. Well done Ghaleb and John and really great work by Toks everyone involved in the organisation.