1st July 2012
Iona writes...
We set out for 4 laps of an
undulating course, and for now it looked like it might stay a dry race.
The route itself wasn't too demanding: up and down, rolling route,
but the wind was going to be the thing to make it tough.
Lap 1 and barely a mile from the start in Stamfordham, the bunch had to navigate a
flooded section of road. It turned out not to be too bad, but for the first couple of laps we were unsure as to how fast we could hit that amount of water!
After another couple of miles the road turned left at a junction, and up
the only real hill. It wasn't that much of a hill really, just a short
kick up and then a bit of a drag. But due to the headwind and
the way the road dragged up, it was going to be the best opportunity for
anyone wanting to split the bunch.
First lap and there was no
shortage of attacks, the Matrix girls took it in turns to send a rider
up the road, but nothing stuck.
First time through finish and the bunch strung out as riders went for the prime.
Second lap and this time up the hill, the field split with 5 getting a
gap on the bunch. It strung out, it was like a drag race, up that bit,
into the wind. We were still trying to close the gap to the leaders
knowing we didn't want to be left behind in the bunch, and in doing so,
we found ourselves in a chase group of 8. We worked together mostly,
and stayed away form the bunch behind. At one point they were at 40
seconds, and we could just about see them, but each lap the time gap
grew as they increased their lead.
The rain held off until the
last lap, but half way around the last lap the rain started to fall.
Coming into the nasty left hand corner just after the decent, where the
small circuit meets the large Ryall's circuit there was a crash. No one
liked that bend, but the small amount of rain had made the road greasy.
Next thing the rider in front of me was on the ground in the
middle of the road. I tried to avoid her, but no I was straight down
too, next thing the two riders behind me were also on the ground. I
landed hard, but my first thought was go to get back on the bike. The
lucky 4 of our group of 8 that had been first around the bend, avoided
the crash. I was first up off the ground and back on the bike. That
last 3 or 4 miles to the finish seemed like a long way, and I crossed
the line on my own, coming in 10th.
Typical I'd put same pair
of shorts on that I'd crashed in three weeks ago... as if wanting to ruin the
same pair. So second crash in three weeks and in exactly the same place on my shorts again! All I can say is, they're a darn good pair of shorts...
not ripped at all!
