Pages

Wednesday 29 June 2011

Yorkshire Summer Circuit Series 1

A menacing black cloud hung over Tockwith and the York plain in general on Tuesday night, and stretched out in all directions, with the distinct blur of rain in most. 
Luckily, this cloud stayed closed for the duration of my excursion to the race track.

The summer series are being run in a different format than that of the spring.
The two races, instead of a 4th cat race and a 2/3/4 cat, there are now a 3/4 cat and a 2/3/4 cat race. The first race has now become surprisingly popular as people hunt for easy points. This led to the halving of the field in the second race, with a few riders trying their bodily and mental limits and competing in both.
Also, the races are run the other way round on the course, which makes a nice and refreshing change to a course that was starting to lose its magic.

The race started at a nice pace, with no hooligans bombing it off the front as soon as the official let us loose. After the inaugural lap, I realised that the new finishing straight suited my style of sprinting more to the previous one, since it was longer and was slightly downhill, perfect for a sprinter that spins instead of grinds.
After the first lap, I was going round the first corner when the was a sudden jump in speed, so I dropped it down a gear, stood up and pushed on the pedals. As soon as I did this, there was a loud snap followed by the crack of a whip as the chain connected beautifully with the entire length of my lower leg before wrapping itself round the rear break calliper. 


The Weakest Link

Luckily, there was no structural damage to my bike, just some scratches.
Its impossible to see if any good will come out of this if any. Maybe I might get a better time it tonights time trial, but Im not doing the time trial tonight because Im having to baby sit. Or maybe it might that Ill be fresher for the weekends race. I'd like to say that every dark menacing cloud has a silver lining, but Im not seeing it yet.

Monday 27 June 2011

Otley Town Centre Cycle Races and Eric Biddulph Memorial Road Race

This race was one that I had been looking to all year. This was my first ever race back as a 15-year old and being really my only 'local' race, a lot of preparation had gone into it to ensure I peaked in that week.
It was a cool evening with no wet on the course, meaning that the race would be fast. A full field of 100 also ensured a few crashes too.
After a bit of a fuss evicting the under-16 race riders from the course after thier race, we got down to business. 
So, running 20mins behind schedule, the organisers started the race. All was going well.
I was feeling good, going with a occasional flyer, sticking near the front, keeping up with the bunch and cornering well. There was a lone crash on the first lap but nothing to worry about, although the crashee did send up some pretty impressive sparks up from the road. 
On the second lap, the back end of my bike started drifting a bit on the corners. I presumed this to be the tub coming off, but I was later told that if the tub was going to come off, then it wasn't going to mess around and it would come off and throw me into somebody's plastic pint glass. However, I wasn't taking any chances so I took it easy on the corners.
Fourth lap, I was second off the prime of £40.
Then 2 laps later, the race ended. No bell, no announcement, except for the first few riders across the line apparently. Confused faces and profanities accompanied the bunch on the cool-down lap.  
Due to the stubborness of the riders in the previous race, the organisers had to cut the race short, meaning that my tactics of bombing it down the last hill, taking the last corner like someone with a death-wish and sprinting till my calves popped off all went out of the window.
However, this hasnt detered me and I will sent of my entry to next years race, if the organisers will have me!
Also, well done to local lad Scott Thwaites for winning the pro race, a nice little coffee machine he got for that.


Otley BC Page


The Eric Biddulph Memorial Road Race was raced under clear skies and through a slight wind. The course wasn't too bad, although the false flats and long drags went some way to break the field up. After a neutralised start, the racing got underway and attacks were attempted, but nothing stuck. A lap later, I attacked with 3 or 4 other lads and we built a decent lead, of about 20seconds. Coming to the start/finish line I left my sprint late and won the £10 prime.
Then I sat up and waited for the bunch. However, I don't think I should have done that because the people I was with decided to make the most of their failed prime heist and turned it into a fully fledged attack, which stayed away till the finish.
A few more riders attacked over the next few laps in ones and twos and some where brought back and some got away. 
Coming into the the last 500 metres, the was a crash towards the back end of the diminished group I was in, so I took advantage of the confusion the sped up, but so did everyone else. Coming into the last 200metres, I was 2nd wheel back. The rider behind my opened up his sprint, I jumped on his wheel, and easily over took him with 50 metres to go, with a small seated effort, eventually coming across the line in 7th. 
Not a bad day, but in future I shall stay in the group Im in, even if I win the prime, because that group may just get away.


Eric Biddulph BC Page

Eric Biddulph Photos


Thats all from me for the time being, and thanks for reading.


Next race is the first of the Yorkshire Summer Circuit Series.

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Cautiously Optimistic

On tuesday, I finally made some impact in a 2nd cat race. The circuit races at Tockwith have been running to an end of the spring series, and I certainly made some impact to my confidence with the last one. 
It was a nice day, not too windy, and a decent field of around 60 riders had turned up. Racing got underway and the usual attacks went away, got the first prime and where reeled back in. However, I noticed that this week, the attacks where staying away for quite some time upfront. Maybe the field was reluctant to take up the chase because quite a few of them had raced on the weekend.
So, I attacked halfway through the race, and a break of four was created. I attacked again towards the prime lap and won some money. Then I sat back into the break, unsure whether to put an effort in taking into consideration that it was very likely that we were going to be caught. However, I still came through every now and then and did some work. 
Now, the break had been away for about 5 laps or so, and the time difference between the two groups was stagnating. A few riders realised this and came across and started to contribute, and slowly we gained even more of an advantage. The group, now consisting of 8 riders, was working well and maintaining a high pace. With around 5 laps to go, it became clear that if the peleton did nothing, we where going to make it all the way to the finish, so slowly but surely, they started to chip into our advantage, so much so, that on the last lap, we may have have a 15 second advantage with 1km to go. 
Coming into the penultimate straight, a few riders opened up their sprint, to try and get into the last corner first. By the time I got to the last corner, the peleton had caught the remaining riders from the break and they where breathing down my back. I got into the last corner third, came through low and opened up my sprint, eventually coming across the line in third place and a nice 10points toward my BC license.


Thats all from me, and as always, thanks for reading.

Sunday 12 June 2011

City Road Club (Hull) Road Race (2/3/4)

This was my first road race for a while, with my last one being the Bridlington Road Race back in April. Having got fed-up with just doing the mid-week crit, I persuaded my race driver to drive down to Hull for my latest bash at glory.
Luckily, the forecast of rain managed to stay away during the race, with a sunny start that gradually got worse and it eventually did start raining, but not till half an hour after the race. That was for the better, since the local council decided to put loose chipping along half of the course, so it was hard enough not falling over going round the corners with tyres that where just over a two centimetres wide, without having to worry about rain. Add the loose chipping flying into your face, the sharp corners and gradual climbs, the course was very technical and very hard. Eight laps of this was really going to test the legs

Hard racing started from the word go as riders surged forward to try to be near the front going into the first sharp bend, and my lack of warm up was felt during the first 2 laps. Attacks went thick and fast, and the pace was kept high and no breaks really stuck. On the 3rd lap, a determined trio of riders broke away, and stayed away, leading into the first promising break of the race. Other riders saw this, and one by one they joined the break until it contained about 6 escapees. Around the 4th lap, I attacked going up a hill with another rider, and we opened up a considerable gap on the bunch, maybe 30 seconds. Another rider joined us and we formed the chase group, successfully forming a chain gang to pick up stragglers from the break and eventually catching it. There was another chase group down the road but beyond that, the main bunch was no-where to be seen, and it remained like that for the rest of the race. This large break of maybe twenty riders formed a chain gang to heighten the pace and to discourage opportunistic riders from attacking. Coming into the last 2 laps, another trio of riders attacked, and this eventually turned out to be the winning break. 
Coming into the last lap everybody was shattered, maybe me more so because I had done a considerable amount of time at the front of the break, riding into the wind and chasing down the occasional attack. At this point in the race, the trio of escapees could only be seen on long straights, and it was obvious we were not going to catch them. Other people realised this and eased off the pace, saving their remaining ounces of energy for the inevitable bunch sprint. About a mile from the finish, I found myself second wheel, and i remained like that till the last corner, where it seemed everybody had been plotting against me and opened up their sprints at exactly the same time, leaving me helplessly trying to catch them. At the finish I crossed the line around 15th place. I will not know for sure until the results are posted on the British Cycling website.
And thats my race. In hindsight, I should have done less work at the front and let other people do the chasing, but its a learning curve and I'll get it sorted one day.

My next race is the mid-week crit at Tockwith in the (2/3/4) race, and my next road race is the Bikeline Tom Simpson Memorial Road Race near Doncaster, and that again is a (2/3/4) category race of 60 mile.

Thats all from me, and once again, thanks for reading this far.