It looked like rain and was threatening thunderstorms according to the weather forecast. Oh no, Fowlmead again. It wasn't a great start to the day for me as I had forgotten my over shirts (Doh!) but at least I had my compression layers. So it was basically a full compression layer (tights and long sleeves) and cycling shorts. I just hoped it wouldn't rain. If it started to rain heavily I had my yellow, lightweight Helly Hansen to keep me dry next to the track.
As we lined up for the start it was spitting with rain and as I pushed off to start the race I promptly lost balance and toppled over as I couldn't get my left foot out of the clip in time (right in front of a running video camera as it happens). So I was on the floor and everyone else was away. Cursing, I got up and was away pretty smartish after that. I was to play catch up again. Sprinting, I managed to catch and pass a few people aiming to get on the back of Heather. I managed that on the first lap and sat there learning how to pace a two hour race. We were riding anticlockwise (opposite to the cars) which meant within 300 ish meters from the start it was downhill into the first chicane. Plan was to grab the highest gear possible and push hard until I reached maximum speed where I would spin out on the pedals. Do it right and I would see 25mph down the hill which then helped carry 20+mph round to the next chicane. From there it was a short respite until the into wind, long drag up to the start line. It doesn't look much but it's a long way and a long climb (to me!)
The field thinned a bit and I was also riding with Judith, Eddie, Adam and Chris. I took my turn at the front but then, about 50 minutes in, disaster struck. At 2/3rds of the lap (Castle Combe being about 2 miles round) I got a rear puncture. It was squirming all over the place so I had to stop and push back to the pits, which took about 10 (more like 15!! see below) minutes. Not easy in road shoes and cleats. Once at the pits my unofficial pit crew, Steve (Thanks), helped me extract the tyre. A quick run back to the car and a new inner tube and I was back out within another 5-10 (more like 15!! see below) minutes. Fresh-ish legs saw me catch, and pass Heather (who in reality was now about three laps up on me) and regain my lost laps from Stewart G (I finished a little behind him on the road). It was a bit like a solo time trial for the last 40 minutes, aiming for a rider in front and trying to close the gap.
Never has the last lap bell sounded so sweet and the chequered flag looked so good.
Ultimately it was a tough race which taught me a few things, but then that's what it is all about.
I'll post the results as soon as I get them, but I'll take solace from Heather's average speed as I reckon I would have stayed with her for the whole race.
Results: 27th place out of 34 (79%), with a 30 minute stop for walking back & puncture repair as timed on the race video. Heather lapped at 17.5mph ish and 20th place (58%). I'm down at 14 ish mph but with 16 laps due to the stoppage. I have calculated my average not counting the stop but it's a bit distorted I think. I'll stick to Heathers average for now.
See you all in Sunny Scunthorpe.
Laters, MBG
No comments:
Post a Comment