Imperial Winter Series @ Hillingdon - 8th January

Today was my first 3rd cat race, and having arrived over an hour and a half early, I had a lot of time to think about the pending race. Warm up was slightly belated due to a few youth races on the circuit, I was surprised at how fast some of the really young riders were going!! Very good to see!!

The race started at a very brisk pace with plenty of riders trying their luck off the front, I tried to follow one of them, but as with all others before, we soon got caught by the fast moving peloton. After about half an hour of the race, we actually lapped the 4th cats and things got slightly hectic as they did not seem to let us go past, eventually however they did drop back and we continued on at an high pace. Another breakaway attempt was launched off the front, and to many peoples surprise, the small group of 3 riders actually formed a subtantial gap on the bunch, and as far as i'm aware, stayed away till the finish. A great ride by those guys, well done.

Back in the bunch though people were still jostling for position and with 2 laps to go I moved to the outside and found a gap on about 6th wheel. I held this position until the start of the final uphill straight to the finish. At this point I moved to the right of the man in front of me and started to move up, so I had a gap in which to sprint. However soon after I had moved, another brainless rider tried to come around me and there simply wasn't room, so he knocked into shoulder, sending me flying in to the rider alongside me. My front wheel locked onto his rear wheel for a second or two, until it detached again, I somehow managed to stay upright and stop myself flying over the grass verge. I stopped and saw that I had snapped a spoke on my wheel, and bent a few more, taking the wheel completely out of true. This however was in a better state than the guys wheel who I had collided with... The spokes had completely come apart from the wheel hub, and his rear mech was destroyed... luckily his frame was unharmed, except for some minor markings. Overall, it could have been a whole lot worse, but amazingly we did all stay upright. I understand that another crash happened just before the line, and a rider had to go to hospital, so I hope he is well and wish him a speedy recovery.

Hopefully next week will be slightly more successful...

Ciao.