Crystal Palace Rnd 4...Buerckner almost doesn't win...

[olderigetbetteriwas]

Turned up for the start after a nice warm-up on the rollers back at my flat (it's great having a race so close to home)...the course was being run in reverse due to the fencing that had been put up for the motor time-trials last weekend...I was feeling pretty good the first few laps and stayed up near the front to save myself having to chase back on after every corner (made that mistake last time out)...a few riders moved away and after a lap watching them gapping us I decided to chase to get over to them..caught them and, with a Dulwich rider, found myself off the front..we were working well together and distancing the bunch...leading up the climb with about 12 laps to go felt a rub on my back wheel and then heard the ominous metal-and-carbon-on-tarmac sound that indicated I'd lost my breakaway partner (after the race he acknowledged it was his fault, not mine)...so I'm left with no choice but to go it alone...I put my head down and just grind for the next few laps and get further away from the bunch...5 to go and I'm coming up to the rear of the bunch!...with 3 laps to go the lead commissaire tells me 'last lap'...'that's weird' I think, 'no bell, no nothing' but 'ok'...I come out of the last bend and getout of the saddle for solo sprint across the line...no applause or acknowledgement...'fair enough' I think, 'I guess everyone's only interested in the E/1/2 race'....I go over to the lead commissaire to claim my place and ask him why he finished the race two laps early...'we need to clear the road of all the lapped riders so you don't get in the way of the sprint'..'WHAT?!!!!!' I say...'I WAS OFF THE FRONT!!!!'......'Oh, sorry..that's our mistake....you'd best get back in'...so...I swear alot and get back on the course...not sure if I'm technically off the back of the race (I've watched the bunch I was about to get on the back of go past me)...but I get my head down and do two more laps...I go over to the finish gate to see WTF is going on and the lead commissaire tells me 'none of these guys (coincidentally all the guys who are claiming the places) think you were off the front..I go a little mental at that point..can't really remember what I said but state my case that there was two of us off the front and the other guy came down so that left just me...'well', he says, 'you need to prove that coz all these guys think it was a bunch sprint'...of course they bloody do!!...I walk him over to the guy who crashed (he's done his collar bone but is looking ok) and the commissaire asks him where he was placed in the race at the time of his crash...the crashee confirms that he and I were off the front when he crashed..that he had tried to come through a gap that didn't exist, rubbed my rear wheel and went down..he confirms that he watched me off the front for the rest of the race...at that point the lead commissaire apologises and recognises me as the winner...at that point I calm down and apologise for going a bit mental..he says it's fine, that I earned the win and that he'd have been just as annoyed if he'd won a race and it was taken away from him...
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL........

[AshleyN]

Bloody hell rich that is epic! congrats on the win....superb result and glad justice was done in the end.
do you have the result in writing

[Jonathan]

Wow epic race rich.

[Phil H]

Winning at Palace is an achievement, but winning an argument with a BC commissaire - that's incredible.

Well done.

[Ant]

Nice one Rich!

Bet you told em - see you next tuesday?!

[Ryan Bond]

Well done. Sorry I was not there to ride, I had to be at home to look after the kids. I am glad we finally have some points at palace. Hopefully by the end of the season I will be able to hold on but a bit more sprint and power work will be needed.

[Paul H]

Well deserved Rich - well done

nice write up

[Matt.H]

ha ha Epic Rich! Great result.

I can just imagine you going mad at the commissaire and quite rightly too!

[Antloony]

Epic win and write up. Well done you argumentative git.

And you didn't puncture....miracle.

[Sylv]

Looking at the ride playback Rich, what looks like it has happened, is that while you were away from the field, you at some point did a full lap whereas the bunch was directed to a shortened one (33min in). So you effectively found yourself now behind the bunch, which would explain how you so quickly appeared to have lapped them, and probably what confused the judges so much. Well done anyhow, nothing you could do about it, the judges fault for not watching properly.

[AshleyN]

26/5/15
Dulwich Paragon CC Crystal Palace 2015 Crits - Race #4
Mens 3/4:
1 Richard Buerckner Addiscombe CC
2 Andrew Brown Dulwich Paragon
3 Ian Holt La Fuga CC

[Ghaleb]

Nice win...Good work!

[Phil H]

I notice that that puts us only 4 points behind Paceline RT in the regional club rankings. Great work guys.