April 18th, CDNW Elswick, From our Banana in the Bunch.
Some things stay the same, like Duncan arriving super early and having done some serious amounts of race preparation but others change, like the genuinely flat course this week.
Signing on it was pretty clear that the spotlight would be on Wills Wheels today as with eight of us (Will, Greg, Mr B, Johnno, Duncan, Ben, Chris S & I) in the 3/4 race, we had the numbers to control the race and anything less than a win would be a disappointment.
In days gone past having eight of us in the same race would have been a recipe for disaster and just a question of who would chase who down the most and a quiet car on the journey home. I was confident though with the more relaxed approach current members have to racing (you only have to look at Will's unshaven legs for evidence) in the club and the experience on show that this wouldn't be the case today.
However, with chain gang regulars from the Clarion and VC St Raphael also present it wasn't going to be easy to get the win, as our cards had been marked.
So on with the race... Looking to make our numbers count we took the race to the rest of the field and put them under constant pressure by attacking, attacking and attacking some more. The main protagonists being Will and I. Will taking the sensible option of generally going away with small groups while I went for the less intelligent option of going solo.
It wasn't just Will and I though, I'm pretty sure that at some point I saw just about everyone having ago, which was really good to see. Especially in these CDNW's we really should be taking the race to the opposition even when we don't have the numbers, as we have the fitness and it's good experience.
For the first six laps out of the seven and a half it looked like all our attacking would be in vein, as the bunch was all together. I've put this down to the flat course encouraging people to chase and the average speed of the race being 26mph meaning that it was hard to stay away. It was however, all about to change.
With one rider a couple of seconds up the road Will mentioned he was going for a “soft one” and that I should counter, with Johnno when it was brought back. The instructions to counter proved to be unnecessary, as Will's habit of finding the right move came to the forefront yet again. A small group (six in total) formed around him and they slowly crept away up the road.
The break never got far but they were riding well together rolling through and off and putting some effort in. With our leader in the break none of us were going to chase for fear of the retribution that would come when we were least expecting it, probably during a long day on the end to end next month. Instead we resigned ourselves to queuing up and waiting to jump on anything that looked like going across. All the earlier attacks by Wills Wheels must have had some effect as nobody in the bunch was prepared/able to form a chase or jump the gap.
So it was with only a couple of km to go it was clear that the race was over and I'd missed the winning move for another week, despite having good form. Still at least this week we had someone in the break and I had my hopes pinned on Will for the win.
Alas it was 2nd for Will having been beaten by track rider and fellow chain ganger Maher! Maher having jumped early and the finish line coming too soon for Will. We all gave Will plenty of stick for being beaten but not half as much as he'd have given us if the roles had been reversed!
I'd made my way to the front of the bunch to try and lead out our super-sprinter Greg but I couldn't quite hook up with him and since I was near the front had a go at the sprint and managed to salvage 2nd in the bunch so 8th overall. Greg was close behind in 10th, with Ben, Duncan, Johnno and Mr B all finishing safely within the bunch. Chris S did a decent ride and showed some progress to hang in with the bunch until two laps to go before succumbing to the pace.
At the finish we were all in good spirits, although frustrated not to come home with the win. We certainly made a good impression on the race initiated just about every move or attempted move, prompting quotes from the other riders like “Every time I raised my head there was a red and black jersey up the road.”
Jimmy Frog did a good ride to finish in the bunch, after again feeling the pain of having a 2nd category licence and racing in the E/1/2 event.
That's all from the bunch cam for Elswick but I thought I'd say there are some photos on the CDNW site from last weeks race at Old Hutton. I was obviously going by too fast as there are no photos of me but there are some of Duncan, Ben and Jason.
Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40814262@N08/sets/72157623714380409/show/
Elsewhere on the housekeeping front, if you haven't already done so it's getting time to enter the next batch of races, if your interested here's what I'm planning to enter (happy to listen to other offers if you know of anything better or can fill in some blanks):
06 Jun - Bole Hill (cdnw)
13 Jun - John Boote Memorial (Weaver Valley)
20 Jun - Not so Lumpy RR
27 Jun - Nothing
30 Jun to 04 July – Welsh Ras
11 Jul - Pimbo (cdnw)
18 Jul - Nothing
25 Jul - Nothing
01 Aug - Ulverston (cdnw)
08 Aug - Nothing
15 Aug - Dolphinholme(cdnw)
22 Aug - Oakenclough (cdnw)
29 Aug – Bashall Eaves (cdnw)
Dave Lowe