Alfold 3/4 Handicap

[Marek]

Alfold course is quite rolling but nothing too much to worry about in terms of killer hills. The fourth cats and vets went off first and were given a massive 6 minutes head start for the 80kms. The group I was with included Lewis Atkins and a few other reasonably decent third cat riders who I had seen in other races.

Into the first lap I thought it would be a good idea to have a go at getting away and see if any of the stronger riders fancied coming with me. I spent a few minutes out front on my own but no one seemed too keen on joining me. The peleton caught me up and I sat in for a breather.

Everyone was really focused on what Lewis Atkins was doing and this kind of ruined the overall attacking nature of the race. Everytime someone tried to get away, if Atkins went to join the person then the whole peleton chased him down. This meant that no one got away.

We also had to think about catching the first group but the 6 minutes was too much and I think we only got back about three minutes by the finish. Coming up to the finish line I got boxed in a bit for the sprint and did not manage to get going, also some of the guys in front slowed down as the sprint got going as they did not want to contest and this is really annoying as they just get in the way and cause an obstruction. Anyway, not sure where I came but was nothing special. Think Lewis may have got the sprint.

Max was racing as well and he spent a lot of time on the last lap on the front with a guy from London Dynamo, they did a sterling job and got eaten up by the peleton in the final km. The average speed of the race was 39.2kmph, not bad for the lumpyish course and kind of gives the reason why no one could get away.

Cheers

Marek....