Palace 10/6/08

[Hal]

At last the rains cleared for a beautiful warm sunny evening at Place.

A decent turnout considering competing with the evening 10. Stu and Sylv in the E/1/2 and Steve B, Kieran, Dan, Myself and first timer Jon on the start line. A full field in the 3/4 so pretty busy for the first few laps with some early attacks. A couple of got a way for a few laps but then got reeled back.

35 laps this week so a bit longer than usual, and when a couple of riders when out ahead with about 10 laps to go not much effort to chase them back, I put in a lap on the front but didnt want to over cook myself this close to the finish by bringing them back in and loosing out on the sprint.

I decided to sit in the top and and make my move a the bottom of the climb in the hope of getting first of the bunch and 3rd overall. It paid off well and I was good and clear but the top of the climb and even had time to ease up over the line.

Well done to the others Steve B showed his nose on the front for a couple of laps, Jon stuck in for a good few laps and both Dan and Keiran got a finish in the bunch. Well done guys.

H

[Sylv]

Well done Hal keep racking up the points
I wasn't feeling great but decided to race as it was such a nice evening
Speed seemed lower but was actually a bit faster at 41.1 / 25.55, less attacks I guess
Was feeling ok but not strong enough to go with attacks, three guys went clear
Was ok for bunch sprint except a Citihub guy who had a gripe against a Dynamo decided to shoulder him aside at the top of the climb as we were launching the sprint, almost catching me out and slowing us down a bit
Was 9th-10th in bunch sprint not good enough for a placing
Stu didn't finish

[George]

[quote]Stu didn't finish

[Elliot M]

looked comfortable there Hal!

[quote="George"][quote]Stu didn't finish

[Andrew G]

Nice one Hal - an unstoppable force at the moment .

[kieran]

Well, a brief(ish) report.

My first race in about 3 weeks, this combined with a lack of training (holidays and children’s birthdays, .i.e. life outside of cycling taking up more time than usual) meant I was aiming for keeping up with the front bunch at most. A big turnout and as I spent most of the pre race time queuing to sign on meant that by the time I got my training lap and toilet stop (vital pre-race prep) in I was positioned right at the back of the bunch, along with a young DeVere guy who rapidly powered his way up front and did a few jumps off, not sure where he finished though. Anyway race off and Hal to the front.

I worked my way fairly quickly through the crowds (not as fast as the devere guy ) and got near the front after a few laps (not so bad after all) as I wanted to get there before any gaps formed. The rest of the race was basically spent holding my position there abouts, which I managed to during the whole race and final sprint, where I didn’t get dropped but didn’t advance far enough to get in the points. There must have been about 15-20 riders together for the bunch sprint that Hal took (yea!).

Anyway happy enough with my performance but it has dropped from the last race where I did a number of turns on the front, this time I felt I couldn’t. Nice to see Steve and Dan up there as well, they might not have spotted me as I was in disguise in red and white (ACC mitts though).

A good ride by Sylv in the E/1/2. Maybe Hal will be joining you and Stu before the series finishes? Toks was missed but he did race twice over the weekend I suppose.

Anyway more training is scheduled and maybe plan more races elsewhere if Palace gets washed out in future. I will be child minding this Saturday morning so another club run will be missed, so may see you all at Palace next Tuesday.

[Toks]

Nice work Hal, I see a win coming soon. Well done everyone else, especially Sylv. I think if I finished in the bunch just once with the E12's I'd be happy for the rest of the season

[kieran]

[quote="Toks"]Nice work Hal, I see a win coming soon. Well done everyone else, especially Sylv. I think if I finished in the bunch just once with the E12's I'd be happy for the rest of the season

[Toks]

[quote="kieran"]
let's not put too much presuure on Hal!

[Michelle]

Hal, oh my God, racing at Palace 2 days after the Grimpeurs Challenge on Saturday and Victor Ludorum on Sunday. What a guy!

Well done everyone else, in a few weeks I may see you there for a race or two.

[kieran]

have the results been posted yet? can't spot them on the LCS site.