After 3 months in sunny Malta I returned to a pleasant 20 degrees temperature, with plenty of showers to keep the riders pleasantly cool.
This was my first road race in the UK this year, and I looked forward to catching up with Iona and to test myself against some of Britiains' top riders.
It was 15 degrees cooler than I've been used to and this was so refreshing. When we all lined up ready to start the commissaire explained to us some precautions to take, and wow, she was amusing! I must admit it was one of the best health and safety talks I've ever been to! Her point to staying safe was amusing when she added..."I do not need the paperwork, I hate paperwork, so stay safe and follow the highway code!"
The race set off with over 50 riders and immediately the pace was over 38km/hr average sometimes reaching 43 ( these are figures from my garmin edge 500). It was a good pace to keep warm and stay focused. The rain kept us cool but unfortunately it also increased the number of punctures in the field. Poor Steve, who provided Neutral Service, had to deal with 11 punctures in the pouring rain. On the final lap the pace slowed down to 35km/hr and reached its peak on the last km when the sprint to the finish line approached 50km/hr. Iona and myself both finished in the bunch, myself 18th and Iona 23rd, all in the same time. Our next team series will be in 2 weeks time at Naesby... not to forget to mention that this coming weekend I will be racing off road in the last round of the British National Points Series.
We would like to thank the organisers and all the marshals involved for making it an enjoyable and safe race. To all the riders who charged up the pace and, last but not least, to our neutral service / team manager Steve
Iona writes...
Mud glorious mud, that was the car park!
Steph had just returned form Malta, and so back to racing in the lovely UK weather. So now to find said team mate!
We recieved a race briefing, and were told that there might a tree branch down in the road. Lucklily this was moved in time, and so we set out for 6 laps of the almost pan flat course! There was plenty of standing water on the roads, and on the second lap it started to rain. Early on it seemed that most people wanted to keep the pace high, with many little digs of the front, but nothing was getting away. I think the feeling was such that most wanted the pace kept high to avoid incident, as there seemed to be an awful lot of traffic on the course. In the last 3 years there always seems to be some sort of incident running into the finish on the last lap.
The race itself was fairly uneventful but behind, Steve, our team manager who was providing the Neutral Service for the race, was kept busy wtih the numerous punctures.
By the last lap Clare Galloway had managed to get away, and was off the front of the bunch, where she managed to stay to win the race. I managed to get myself to the front and in a great postion I then found myself on the inside with a couple of the Scott Contessa girls to my right. I could see what was going to happen. The girl on the front leading her team mate out, pulled in front of me and just sat up! I had to check my speed, and go around her, but the sprint was in full flight, so I had to chase hard to catch the tail ends of the bunch, as they charged for the line! Not good, and the most annoying thing was the fact that I had been in a great place up until that point. Oh well, on to the next race, and to Scarborough for a small Crit, before the next team series race in Naseby.
Many thanks, as always, go to Steve. And also welcome back to Steph!
