by Tamar » Wed Aug 04, 2004 9:36 am
Sitting on the bus, watching the lightning, my heart lifted at the thought that Crystal Palace might be rained off. Sadly not. Maria sensibly went circuit training instead (not the easy option) and I thought I was on my own until I spotted John Sadler lining up with the fast boys. I was too late to do a warm up lap so took my place at the back of the 3/4s and told myself I was definitely staying with them for at least one lap. Hahahaha.
If you?re not too confident on corners you need to take your sense of humour with you to the Palace. I watched the field disappear round the first bend and almost laughed out loud. From then on my mission was to be marginally less crap at cornering by the last lap.
As the laps went by my cornering definitely improved, but what felt like a gentle incline on lap one was a soul-destroying grind by the end and I lost count of the number of times I was lapped.
Best comedy moment was on penultimate lap when I tried to follow the elites round the tight u-turn bit. Got half way round then decided I was actually quite scared and ended up almost on the grass. Oh yes, hilarious.
Anyhow, I expect I?ll be there next week. If nothing else it?s good practice?and has got to improve my riding more than sitting around whining about it will.
John made it look easy and finished near the front. Brett was also racing (sorry, didn?t spot where you finished) and Paul Tunnell was providing support on the finish line. Saw another ACC face spectating but sorry, couldn?t remember your name.