by adrian » Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:48 am
[quote]
Come on people where are the reports for the 'B' race
OK, here comes one.
A great day out yesterday and a glimpse into another world that provided a real education.
I'd never raced before or even contested a CR sprint, but I have ridden pretty strongly this year in a number of sportives. So my goal was to be there or thereabouts at the death, and then see what happened.
Rode over with Kieran, Mark McL and Ajay, the latter doling out pearls of invaluable racing wisdom all the way. After stopping for coffee and refined-sugar products somewhere in the West Ealing/Hanwell sprawl, we pitched up at the circuit to find several ACCers doing their pre-race thing. I was relieved to find that I was in the B race, and even more so that Chris K was in the A race. At least it wouldn't hurt quite that much
Did a few warm-up laps with Ajay to familiarise myself with the course. Noted that the wind was really picking up and that the back straight was going to play a key role. (Also saw that there was somewhere to have a p*ss, but you don't need to know that.)
Once we were off, my main focus was on getting used to the rubbing of shoulders but avoiding any rubbing of wheels. That accomplished, I then moved onto going around corners as fast as possible without my pedals hitting the tarmac. Check. In the meantime, the minutes had been ticking away without any major developments in the race itself.
Didn't hear/understand/grasp the significance of the announcement of the first prime - just thought people had decided to wind the pace up a bit
Soon, but not that soon, the 35 minutes were up and this injected a certain urgency into proceedings. Insofar as I'd had a strategy at all, it had been to stay close to Mark McLaughlin, whom I'd perceived to be the danger man. But with the race (like the war with Eurasia in
1984) now within measurable distance of its end, I became acutely aware of the conundrum facing any racer: how much pain can you dish out to those around and behind you without blowing up yourself?
With 3 to go and with this in mind I decided to put in a hard stint where it would have the most effect on the rest of the field - into the headwind down the back straight. I was surprised that this afforded me quite a gap, but knew I'd soon be caught - particularly when Toks announced the next prime. Sure enough, back they came
But I'd done what I wanted to do.
A guy from (I think) DeVer wearing all blue then made a jump off the front but this was short-lived and had no lasting impact. From this point on it all became a bit of a blur and I'm not sure of the chronology of events. Michelle, who had been going great guns, crashed out as the A race came past for the last time - looked nasty but luckily she seemed OK as she walked back to the finish.
When the bell sounded I couldn't really tell who was around or immediately behind me - I was just concentrating on staying with the lead group (comprised of the eventual 1-2-3 on the podium) and leaving something for the finish. Unlike most clubruns, where by the time I realise the sprint has started, it's over, I felt I timed it OK but just didn't have enough to overhaul the front three.
So there it was - I came in fourth. All in all I was pleased that I'd had enough to get me in a position to contest the final sprint; just a tad disappointed that I didn't discover some hidden sprinting talent when it mattered. But the whiff of competition had been intoxicating and I was happy that I'd done my best and ridden well. Into the bargain, I'd stayed upright and hadn't caused anyone else to crash.
Great atmosphere as we watched the A race finish and then back in the CH at the prizegiving. Amazing that one club should have enough strength in depth for two good-sized and competitive races on a blustery, grey day in late October.
Huge, huge thanks to Toks, Huw, Joyce and everyone else that worked hard to make this happen. Congratulations to the winners Stu and Graham, and well done to everyone for giving it everything and making it a fantastic day - what a way to bring down the curtain on the season.
... The ACC crew took full advantage - buying drinks both before (only coffee's 
..also we used the plush facilities for our prize presentation ...As far as I'm concerned the best race reports come from those that are racing so I've nothing to add to those excellent reports. Just a few thanks and well dones really 
