Benenden/Cranbrook 3/4

[Marek]

Rocked up to Rolvenden this morning for the 3/4 race. Andy Ellis was the only other ACC rider to rock up and he managed to get an entry on the line which was good news. The circuit is quite rolling with a steepish rutted hill finish, but not too long. 9 times around the circuit for a race distance of around 100km.

Race started off and the pace was quite manageable, I was not sure of my form after quite a heavy beer session on Friday night and a bit of a sore throat, so after a lap I thought I should have a foray off the front to test the legs. Managed to get a reasonable gap and plugged away, was feeling quite good. Unfortunately there were a few riders at the front of the peleton who just seemed intent on dragging the peleton back up. Nobody else attacked or came to join me and with the wind being quite strong after about a lap I got eaten up. Andy had a go on about lap 3 but again the same happened to him. I was trying to let people go up the road for a break to form, but a few youngsters at the front would just come around me and bring things back together.

Had a little chat with Andy and he said he would try again a bit later on as we would wait for the youngsters on the front to wear themselves out. But on about lap 5 I found myself in a good position to go again and thought sod it may as well. So off I went up the road again, this time the chase did not seem to happen and it was not long before I had a pretty big gap, I could not see the main group.

I put my head down and kept on plugging away, after about a lap the gap was big enough for the lead car to wave me through, I like it when that happens as it means you are out of sight of the peleton. 2 laps off the front on my own and I was starting to cook a bit. Made sure I was drinking a lot and eating gels, and then all of a sudden a big guy from VC Elan caught me up. He had managed to bridge over on his own and we started working hard together. There were still 3 laps to go and it was getting tougher and tougher.

This guy was not mega fast going up the hills which was perfect for me as we just ticked up the hills at a reasonable pace and then nailed the downhills and flats with us both sharing the work very evenly. It was going very smoothly but I could feel that the legs were starting to complain a bit. We agreed that we would work all the way to the finish hill where we would fight it out so that we had a better chance of staying away.

On one of the laps the lead car overtook us again, but we just kept plugging away, and think that whoever was chasing must have given up as we did not get caught by anyone else and then the car went back again. I tried to ignore and just kept on with the job in hand.

As we came up the last long drag VC Elan man said we had better hurry up as he could see some chasers. Now we put our heads down and pushed harder on the final part of the drag and then it was nail the last hill down before the uphill finish. I got to the front on the downhill as the chasers were getting close and we hammered it down the hill.

Onto the final hill and I was leading up the hill, the VC man put in a dig and I just could not do anything about it. I was cooked so just put my head down and got the legs ticking over as fast as I could. VC Elan got first and I managed to come in 2nd. A chase group were only about 5 to 10 seconds behind and then the peleton came over the line a bit further back with Andy in the mix.

First points of the year and was pretty chuffed to have stayed away and been so active in the race for so long. Andy E and I then had to cycle back to the HQ which was about 12 to 15km. Must have taken us about 45mins as every time I came to a little drag I could feel the legs starting to cramp. I defo put everything into this one.

Andy, sorry if I did not seem that chatty after the race, I was pretty exhausted and was having trouble stringing a sentence together, much like Friday night.

Cheers

Marek....

[DavidKennett]

Good ride Marek, will be following your wheel at Frant

[Snoop Doug]

Top job, you can't beat a beer fuelled 2nd place - well done

[Andrew G]

Excellent result, and the usual high standard of reportage.
[quote]But on about lap 5 I found myself in a good position to go again and thought sod it may as well. So off I went up the road again,

[Gavin]

Fantastic Result Marek

Well done.

[Toks]

[quote="Marek"]...I was not sure of my form after quite a heavy beer session on Friday night and a bit of a sore throat, so after a lap I thought I should have a foray off the front to test the legs. Managed to get a reasonable gap and plugged away, was feeling quite good.

[Keith]

[quote="Marek"]...was having trouble stringing a sentence together, much like Friday night.

[Ian A4size]

good ride big fella

[Michelle]

Nice one Marek, well done. Keith said you would be strong on this race and he was not wrong.

[Andy E]

Yep, well done Marek, great ride fella

I hadn't planned on doing this race as i was staying down near Maidstone with The Wife for the weekend. A brief chat with Marek on Friday though and i figured out I could probably swing it as it was pretty close to where we were staying and The Wife would be popping into work on the Sunday morning anyway, game on

After riding the TG on Saturday and then riding over to Maidstone i wasn't expecting too much and just hoping for a good workout (sandbaggin? Moi? ). Managed to get down just in time to sign on as 5th reserve and get my transponder on just as the race briefing was finishing. It was a nice lumpy course, with a long draggy hill up to the finish which I quite fancied. I was a bit dissapointed with the racing though, it was really negative. For the first 3 laps there was only 1 other guy (Medway Velo) who put in an attack other than Marek or I, no-one seemed interested in trying to establish a break or do anything other than chase anything that went off the front . After a couple of unsuccessful attempts I decided to drift back in the bunch and take it easy for a few laps. Was amazed to find the bunch down to about 40 riders or so by this point. A lap or so later Marek was up the road on his own again but getting a pretty good gap. He was soon out of sight with the VC Elan guy bridging across to join him. With 3 laps to go i'd moved up tp the front of the bunch again and was feeling good, followed an attack at the top of the hill and 4 of us soon had a good gap over the bunch and got to within about 8secs of Marek and his buddy when 2 of the guys just sat up and refused to work Not wanting to drag anyone up to Marek I sat up too and the bunch soon rejoined and as we slowed right down Marek & VC Elan were out of sight again.

Things finally sped up on the final lap but there was some shocking pieces of riding, mainly from the young non-club riders, one of which nearly put me in the ditch With the bunch swarming all over the road I put my head down and went to the front of the bunch to stay out of trouble, regardless of how much energy it would cost me. Into the last km and I could see Marek up ahead but was confident they had just enough of a gap to make it to the finish. Turning onto the final climb I was 4th in the bunch and feeling good but the 3 in front had opened up a slight gap. Getting out the saddle to close the gap my legs just didn't want to know, telling me in no uncertain terms they'd had enough Decided to sit up and roll in instead of killing myself for a non-placing.

Chapeau to Mr Marek, a great ride to spend half the race out front

[Michelle]

Excellent, Andy, you could have really done some damage if you were not so knacked already.

[Toks]

Good work Andy

1 Neil Archibald. VC Elan
[size=150]2 Marek Siwicki. Addiscombe CC[/size]
3 Jeremy Bishop. GS Avanti
4 Tony Upson. Activ Cycles
5 Holyoa Luke Ryan. Private Member.
6 Robert Moore. London Phoenix. CC
7 Phil Cloke. San Fairey Ann CC
8 Will Mangar. Larkfield Cycles.
9 Paul Callaghan. GS Avanti
10 Andrew Wills. Toachim House RT

[Marek]

http://www.londoncyclesport.com/Gallery ... _8_09.html

Just took a look at these photos, at the finish the chasing guys were a lot closer than I had actually realised until seeing these, that was a close call, I would have been a bit upset if I had got caught. Phew, close call.

Cheers

Marek.....

[George]

well done Marek, shows that if you keep trying sooner or later it works.

Knocked down 7 times get up 8

[-Adam-]

Top ride Marek.