There were a number of very strong riders who have either won road races this year or have been close to winning so I knew it will be hard.
There were a number of speculative attacks almost straight away which were brought back. I went up the road after about 12mins but nobody went with me so didn’t push it. When I was caught, somebody else went up the road which was brought back followed by somebody else and I was starting to cook.
Jonathan went up the road sometime after this and we all left them to it but when Richard bridged over, it was looking like the decisive move. I wasn’t feeling good but fortunately Rob came to the rescue and did a long turn chasing them back. I came through just before the finish line and George attacked us at the hairpin. I managed to get back on George’s wheel but poor Rob was dispatched (that’s Road Racing
). The Brent express towed me back to Jonathan and Rich leaving 4 of us to battle it out for the win.I still wasn’t feeling that good and at one point thought about bailing as I have a race tomorrow so left it for the other 3 who seemed stronger than me to attack and chase each other down. I did try another attack with a few laps to go but was quickly chased down. With time running out it was getting cagey and each speculative attack getting closed down easier and easier.
On the last lap, I attacked on the back straight. There was clearly some hesitation by the others and it was left to Jonathan to pull me back. At the bottom of the circuit I thought they were going to pull me back but it was not to be sadly (for them) and I managed to hold on for the win, Rich 2nd and George 3rd.
Thanks all for a great race. Shame about Tom who clipped a pedal and then blew out his tyre – I’m sure he would have been in the mix.
There’s a lot of racing tomorrow so don’t think the weekend is over for Team Addiscombe.
Paul
