English
Location: Cowbridge, Wales.
10th April 2011
After recovering from the Dengie Tour of the Marshes and a busy week in work which also included a photo shoot for the 2011 summer dhb clothing it was soon time to race again. The weather was superb and I was really looking forward getting stuck in to some racing on a sporting course. It was a nice surprise to see fellow team mate Lee Williams entered in to the race as well looking for a good work out.
The race was neutralised for a fair distance but as soon as the flag was dropped the attacks came thick and fast. The first lap was very stop start until a group got away which included myself on one of the steeper climbs on the course. It had a good group of riders and I was sure that this was going to be race winning move. We were all working well together apart from a Willier Rider who was apparently waiting for his team mate…not quite sure where he expected him to come from with a minute gap. This then made a couple other rider skip turns and disrupted the flow of the group. We then got caught a lap later but I did manage to win a prime at the top of one of the climbs so my efforts were not wasted too much.
The race then remained together and I was sitting in nicely waiting for the second prime at the top of the climb. I moved towards the front and followed fellow Welsh Man Matt Rowe as he was going for the prime, he ran out of steam and I managed to get the prime but almost got wiped out by a sheep for my efforts (See Video). It was not long after this that a group got away which I thought was a dangerous move, I attempted to get across but was soon chased down by the bunch. Once the bunch had caught me they sat up and let the group ride away leaving team mate Lee Williams chasing for the last lap.
The break stayed away and Lee lead me to the bottom of the finishing climb. I rode hard up it but did not realise how long it was and soon riders started to pass me. I then just rolled in to finish the race in 24th place. I was hoping for a top 5 position but that’s road racing for it’s like a lottery but I did come home with two primes if nothing else.
Ben