Thought I was more or less on my own until Matt Day (Pretty sure thats your surname Matt, right!?) rocked up for the briefing. Was good to see a friendly face. Was his first open road race this morning but he seemed remarkably relaxed at the start and quite comfortable later on...
So this morning was my first time back on the open road since my crash last May, well, apart from a handicap. So I was a little nervous throughout, also having been targetting the next three weeks since my operation, the pressure was high. But given that three weeks ago I could barely bend my knee after my white van incident I really wasn't sure how I'd go.
Warming up I felt quite sluggish, but then I usually do first thing in the morning, so nothing new! There was a long neutralised section to begin with before we were waved off, and to begin with, I thought it was going to be club run pace. Well, for a brief second it was... I turned to the guy next to me and enquired as to if we were still neutralised!? Then almost as soon as I said it that was it... the proverbial hit the fan!
The beggining part of the race was fast, and very agressive. I stayed up near the front for the first of five 10 mile laps, but not too close. Then in the second lap I thought I would start to test the water. Now, the conditions this morning were tricky, the sun was coming out and the air was warming up. But the roads were soaked... there was water everywhere! Even on the front there was enough spray to get you wet. It also meant that most of the potholes were full of water and so concealed. Though due to a mid week recce I knew where most of them were so it wasn't too bad. The 60kmph part of the course was rather slippery and at that speed, it certainly made me wake up
I got myself in a few breaks but nothing seemed to have the right mix, the only one that looked promising was comprised of 4.1 riders. I say 4.1, there were really 5, but the guy just wouldn't come through. Er, hello, wtf are you doing!? I asked him politely to come through the next time I came to the back, but no. We were duly caught after barely a couple of miles. I retired towards the rear of the peloton to recover a while. Had a quick chat with Matt who seemed to be taking to the road like a duck to water, well, we all were this morning anyway! While I was sitting in, the inevitable happened. A break of at least 6 went away, containing a certain Ben Wilson of Cycling Weekly. Who I am informed has competed at a much higher level before and has completed the best part of 80 hours training in the past few weeks. He looked it too. I knew that was the move to be in, but by the time I realised who was in the move it was way to far up the road and I was way to far back to even contemplate bridging. And to be honest, even If I had, I don't think I had the legs today to make it to the finish with them. So it was a schoolboy error all the same, but I knew right away we would not see them again.
The next 20miles were horrible, the resulting chase ensured the speed rarely dropped below 40kmph. Which left me hanging onto the back of the bunch. Literally. But hang on I did, having a nice long chat with a promising young junior in the process. Initially he kinda cut me up, so I told him to look over his shoulder before moving over next time. Then a few seconds later I realised I was a little harsh with my tone, so went back to him to apologise. So we ended up chatting for about 20mins! Quite a nice guy, can't remember his name mind, I never do! Oops! But he rides for I-Team.co.uk anyway, at least I remembered that, I'll know who he is next time anyway.
Anyhow, after stuffing a couple of gels down in the mean time I began to pick up again. Proof if ever there was that whenever you feel sh1t you should always carry on because you never know when the second wind might come... And it did, just in time for the last 10 miles. I began to slip forward, by this point the break was long gone, well over a minute clear. So I just told myself to go hard up the final climb to the finish and see what happens. So I lurked near the front constantly having to fight for position, then when we got the the last climb I just made sure I stayed close to the front. The finish today was about a 750m long climb that leveled out slightly over the last 200m to the line. Far from Ideal for me, but I gave it a go all the same... After all, the easter three day will be decided on Milland Hill on day one, so I need to be able to power up these climbs... The funny thing was with a couple of miles to go, a few guys started either emptying their bottles, or throwing them away all together! I mean c'mon guys, this ain't the Tour! Besides, I payed good money for the energy powder in this water and I'm far to skint to be throwing it away!!!
Power I did, I waited and waited and waited... just before it leveled out the first man made his move, so with about 225m to go I had one guy ahead and not a clue who was behind. I was in the 39, in the saddle, and holding his wheel. I was seriously expecting to get swamped any second. But no one was coming. So with about 50m to go I tried to get round the guy, still in the saddle, still in the 39! I lunged for the line and just, by no more than a couple of centimeters. I couldn't believe it! I looked round and we shook hands, and we were probably about 3-4m clear of the next few riders! I was just amazed that no one came round us. And I had a full bottle of drink still!! So by leading the bunch over the line and taking the proverbial ''bunch sprint'' that nabbed me 7th. Which I'm pretty pleased about considering how bad I felt mid race, plus last weeks sickness etc. Matt closely followed behind me, just outside the top 10 I think, he said he got blocked a little on the climb. But I still say chapeau! It was a great effort for your first open road race. You'll do well in a few more weeks once you get used to the distance more. Not to mention the fatigue caused by bumpy roads, I forgot what it was like racing on crap surfaces after only having done circuits since August last year! I would rate today as probably my best road race performance to date. And it bodes well for the next couple of weeks too, I'm a good few watts off what I was 4 weeks ago. Which is as encouraging as it is disappointing. But I reckon I'll find 'em again in time for easter, so who knows... Adam Cotterell doing well in up-hill finishes!? Who'da thought it!!
