Hillingdon Bridesmaid

[Paul H]

Had a go at the 4ths today at Hillingdon. It wasnt the biggest of fields and only a few of us were prepared to do any work. I got impatient pretty quickly and tried to get away after about 6 minutes with some other guy but got pulled back. I tried again a few times with various people but the rest of the bunch were not having it. Some Dulwich guy had a word with me and said I'm mad and am going to kill myself. He was probably right so I decided to sit in for the last few laps. On the final lap the bunch kept together and I went for it at the corner at the bottom of the hill. I was leading all the way up but got pipped by a guy just before the finish and came second. Not as classy a result as George but it was the best I could do. Apparently for this race series only, you can only do the E123 race if you win the 4ths i.e. you can come 2nd 5 times and can still do the 4th cat race. Talking to the guys afterwards, there was a least 3 3rd cat racers doing the 4ths today. I shall be having another go this weekend. I'd like to thank George who came up with me in the morning as I probably wouldnt have bothered if I had not agreed to meet him. George did the E123 race and I did not see the result as I had to get back to the wife and kids.

[Marek]

Well done Paul, 2nd is fantastic result and shows that when the real racing starts next year you should be able to get your required points to move up pretty quickly. I think some of the early races sponsored by London Dynamo are going to be at Hillingdon so you should make an effort to get to those.

See you when I get back from Polski, good luck if you do any more of the races.

Cheers

Marek....

[Paul H]

Cheers Marek - I believe that I will be getting BC points for this race and hope to be a 3rd Cat before the Surrey League starts next year.

[George]

Paul drove us up to Hillingdon today, the E123’s race is run afterwards so I had a cuppa and a nice rest before we started.
Kept an eye on Paul in the 4’s he was definably mixing it up in there, I had pointed out one or two of the faster guy’s.
Paul went for it up the last hill and was leading out of sight, you must have got piped right at the line.

Larger field of about 40 in the E123’s everyone looked very professional and fit!
The pace was faster than the 4’s. I wanted to try and stay up near the front of the bunch, so I could see how they were riding.
Every single lap people were having pretty big digs off the front and we had to work hard to stay up there.
I need to work on the quick jump onto the back of a wheel, which I found tricky!
Nobody really wanted to be on the front, you could tell that by the way riders sharply peeled over to the side once they found themselves on the front to try goad the others through.
5 laps to go and I found myself in a break, no one was working hard up front and it didn’t last.
2 laps to go I was forcing myself to stay right up there then 2 or 3 guys went, I tried pretty hard to stay on their wheel but they got a small gap. We almost caught them on the last lap.
Up the back straight things really hotted up, toy’s were being thrown out of prams and everything, I thought it was quite amusing how some people seem to lose their sense of humour when the sh1t hits the fan.
The sprint started at the bottom of the hill and was well fast!!
I gave it a good go but lots of riders came past. I think I crossed the line mid field in the pack.
I didn’t have the legs today for the sprint, I think I probably tried too hard to stay up front rather than conserving energy.
But still I had a good time and didn’t feel as out of breath as on Saturday.
Rode home my thighs were killing me and just woke up from kipping on the sofa.
Well done Paul today on your great result.

Cheers George

[Toks]

Fantastic effort Paul!...Seeing as you haven't raced at Hilld'n before i thought you'd get 3rd spot today. 2nd is absolutely brilliant!. Unfortunately each attack inevitably creams off FT Power. otherwise I'm sure you'd have won - but hey thats racing!. Are you 4.5 yet? PS Was the Dulwich chap a big fella called GUY?

[Andrew G]

Well done chaps, great stuff.

Paul, I think it speaks volumes that you seem dissapointed with a 2nd, particularly as it sounds as though you were the main one doing the work, and you had a few ringers in the pack.

[quote]5 laps to go and I found myself in a break

[Toks]

[quote]Every single lap people were having pretty big digs off the front and we had to work hard to stay up there.
I need to work on the quick jump onto the back of a wheel, which I found tricky!

[George]

Toks I'm always plodding along slowly in a big gear

[Paul H]

Toks - I would be 4.5 if I was down to my race weight. I wont get to 5 though. Not sure of the Dulwich guys names but had a good chat with them afterwards.

[Dr Frigo]

Great results George and Paul, well done.

[quote]Toks I'm always plodding along slowly in a big gear

[Toks]

The 4th cat race @ Hillingdon on Boxing Day

1st 73 Dexter Gardias Oxford City RC 4
2nd 92 Paul Hone Addiscombe CC 4
3rd 18 John Heaton-Armstrong Fit-For 4
4th 80 Chris Jones Bynea CC 4
5th 8 Charles Codrington Dulwich Paragon 4
6th 41 Doug Baldock Edgware RC 4
7th 98 Michael Kazimierski TSN - Sportful 4
8th 30 John Terrell Ipswich CC 4
9th 50 Guy Phillips Dulwich Paragon 4
10th Rohan Battison http://www.agiskoviner.com 4
11th Paul Goodwill Brighton Mitre 4
12th 72 Brodie Gardias Oxford City RC 4
13th 69 Eugene Bardwell Southdown Velo 4

That Armstrong bloke hasn't been the same since he left the disco boys
Was number 7 previously an ACC man?

[Paul H]

Do you mean how do I know what my race weight is? If so it is the weight I could row at if required without having to lose muscle mass. If I could improve by another 20 watts, I would be happy.