English
National Circuit Race Championships
The race took place on a Friday evening around the town centre of Beverley, with the circuit around 1km long with varying surfaces making it a very fast and demanding course. There was a down pour about 30 minutes before the start of my race so I had to let some pressure out of my tubs on my Lightweight wheels to get more grip. The finishing straight was a 300m long section of old cobble stones which were very slippery in the wet, this section combined with paving slabs and a newly gravelled section of road made for an exciting race for the spectators.
There was a very good standard of riders competing in the race this year and some big teams who were looking to set up their top rider for the win. The race was 70 minutes plus 5 laps which is quite a long duration for a criterium race. The race was rapid from the start and I was battling with riders to move up to the front of the bunch but with every one having the same idea I was expending too much energy so decided to sit in where I could. With the pace high and the bunch strung out in one long line riders where dropping out fast. Before I knew it I looked behind me and to my surprise there was no one behind me, I was last man in the bunch of 30 or so remaining riders. I stayed in this position until the last 5 laps where I started to move up for the finish but only gained a few extra positions but was extremely satisfied with finishing 29th.
Saturday
Saturday was a free day so I went out for a 2 hour spin with some interval to recover from the previous nights race and prepare my legs for the punishing race the following day. I spent the rest of the day chilling out in the hotel making good use of the leisure facilities and looking around the shops in the local town. In the evening I had a nice meal before getting to bed early to rest up for the premier calendar.
East Yorkshire Classic Premier Calendar
This race I knew was going to be tough so I was up bright and early to have a good breakfast and leave plenty of time to get to the race. This race was 157km long and had a big field of 130 riders; the course was undulating through narrow lanes. The weather was very unpredictable with showers making the course dangerous with the large amount of riders being funnelled through the narrow lanes. I felt OK on the climbs but was suffering in the cross winds. The bunch split on the main climb and I was stuck in the second group, I attempted to bridge across with two there rider but we were caught by the bunch behind us who soon upped the pace and eventually the race came back together towards the end of the race. I was beginning to suffer in the last 10 miles after using up all my food and drink. In the end I managed to hang in the main bunch and finish 65th out of 70 odd finishers from the starting 130 riders.
This was a tough weekend of racing but I feel that I gained so much knowledge and experience from racing in these high profile events.
Ben