I have been doing a lot of riding this week, including racing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, amongst some longer rides in the mornings!
Tuesday evening was the annual Bicester Millenium CC 9-up Team Time Trial, held at Weston on the Green airfield. This event is always well attended by the local clubs and is fiercely competitive! We went in to the event as somewhat of a dark horse, the team consisted of a team of road-men who had very little TT experience, apart from myself and a couple of others. We were all on our road bikes, which set us at a slight disadvantage to those boys in full TT kit, however this can be cancelled by good teamwork, and a steady pace that all riders can maintain.
We started the event fast, I led the team out and got us up to speed with Sam Parker following my wheel and setting a high pace for the first half a lap. The whole team looked good and for the first 2 laps we stayed together and worked like a well oiled machine, everyone was digging deep on the front. It was clear that some riders were tiring in lap 3 as a couple of riders dropped out having done their bit to great effect! Our lap splits were looking good and we were on for a fast time, as we rounded the final bend I hit the front and emptied my legs. We had finished with 6 riders and in a time of 21.53, a fantastic time with an average speed of 27.5mph. We had somehow managed to sneak into 2nd place behind VC10 who won with a time about 20 seconds faster then us, in full TT kit. Our whole team was ecstatic with our performance, a great team effort.
Wednesday evening saw me travel down with Mike 'the climber' Betts and James 'I did not touch that child' Jones. We arrived early and watched the youths racing, it was inspiring to watch two 7-8 year olds riding a very tactical race on their tiny little bikes, after 3 track stands, 2 mini attacks which were brought back by the fast moving 1 man peloton, it came down to the bunch sprint and as they rounded the final bend, one guy took off and took the win, the 2nd place rider didn't even feel it necessary to cross the line! Seriously great to see boys enjoying racing from such a young age!
I was racing the cat 3/4 race, it started slowly with nobody wanting to show their cards too early but after a couple of laps people started attacking, I followed a few breaks and chased them down, not wanting anyone to get away too early. More futile attacks went off the front in the first half an hour, including 4 attacks from me, once gaining about a 3rd of a lap before realising I was getting closed down. Finally with 15 minutes left, I edged off the front of the group to counter attack a break that had just been brought back, I bridged across to the one guy who had attacked 2 laps earlier. We worked well together and soon pulled out a gap of half a lap, and held it consistently by working hard, although I could see that my couterpart was beginning to get tired as the speeds dropped dramatically when he hit the front, nevertheless he gave me a rest and helped us stay away from the bunch. When we got the signal for 3 laps to go, it was clear that we had it in the bag, and as we passed the bell on the final lap I sprinted away from the other rider and took the win by about 50 metres, with the bunch following about 300 metres behind. I crossed the line with my arms aloft and pointed to my Zappi's jersey. I was over the moon with my performance, 10 points in the bag and now only 8 points away from that elusive 2nd cat licence!
Thursday evening was the Didcot Phoenix 2-up time trial and I turned up without a partner, but eventually ended up riding with Mark Cox of Fairly United CT. The course was H10/15, not a fast course by any means. We started steadily down a bumpy road and once we hit the good surface we unloaded our legs, pushing round the 10 mile course fast and working well together, we eventually crossed the line in a time of 21.34, taking the win by some 40 seconds. Another win to top off a succesful week of racing!!
A great week, and I'm very happy with how I rode in my races. This Sunday brings an open 25 mile TT in Marlow, and next week I head back to portsmouth to try and wrap up my 2nd cat licence and/or help Mike Betts get his licence too!!
Ciao!
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