22nd June, Oulton Park - Take 3

In a moment of inspiration I had decided to ride out on Tuesday to Oulton Park and make the most of the stunning weather.

I knew I could count on super-tourer Phil Bridge to keep me company and so after a quick phone call the ride was on. The only problem was without Jimmy Frog who was racing at Ashton we were lacking a route-master and despite an emergency broadcast on Twitter and a couple of other calls nobody came to our rescue. Still we weren't to be put off and set off on our way at 5:45pm.

After we got past Seven Sisters Lane our knowledge of the route was pretty slim and we trusted to the tactic of just taking the smallest road that headed either 'across or down' at each junction. To be honest we weren't worried as if we didn't find Oulton Park as we least we'd have had a good ride on what was surely the best night of the year.

At one point I did see a pretty impressive lake bathed in sunshine, I was tempted just to climb off and go lie in the field by it for a couple of hours and let Phil or anyone else collect me on the way back. Due to the lack of a picnic hamper (next carbon attachment required for my bike!) I persuaded myself to carry on.

Just as we wondering where our next turn would take us we stumbled across Oulton Park, it was amazing we hadn't a clue how we'd got there but we hadn't got lost once!

On arrival at Oulton Park there were plenty of familiar faces from the club and a couple of new ones looking to use this as an introduction to racing. Greg had decided Oulton Park would suit his damaged ribs better than Ashton and returned, I think really he just wanted to show off his scabs, which were only minor! It was good to see Martin Harney out there fresh from marshalling the Wills Wheels 2-up last week, despite being a member of the Wheelers, putting quite a few of you in the club who decided to stay home, to shame there! Jack Green tired of spending all his nights chasing the red and back jerseys had brought reinforcements in the shape of his track specialist team mate and Alan to give him a hand.

One of the funniest moments of the night was when signing on as Phil was asked for his age by the lady behind the desk, to check he was over 18. Better grow that beard back fast! I was hoping to be asked the same question but I guess I was closing to looking in the over 40's category than needing a parents signature...

Although run over the full 12 laps, the race followed a similar format to the first week with Rob and I alternating attacks. Rob's attacks were definitely more closely followed than mine and I was able to get quite a decent gap on a couple of occasions but couldn't make it stick. The problem I seem to have is that I can jump well enough to get the gap but can't quite recover quick enough to settle down into a steady tempo and push on. The morale of that story is probably that I need to stop going alone or with just one rider for company but go with a group but where's the fun in that?

After Rob and I had each made a few attacks and the race was getting on towards half distance I was starting to think I wouldn't be able to make many, if any more attacks, at least for a while. Still I was spared the need to attack again as Rob's persistence paid off. When Jack Green and another rider looked to be slipping off the front Rob smoothly jumped across and although followed by another four or five riders the group managed to get a good gap.

There must have been some tired legs in the bunch as the pace slackened with nobody looking willing or able to chase hard. Slowly the gap grew until it was getting on for 30 seconds, which usually on Oulton Park is game over.

In the usual 3/4 category type standard of racing the bunch had decided that they had let enough men go up the road and therefore were determined to chase anyone else who was feeling reckless enough to have a go. Quite entertaining to sit back and watch, while the up and down pace was helping the break to keep their advantage.

With two laps to go the pace upfront was telling as a couple had been dropped from the break and the gap was starting to come down. I was beginning to get a bit concerned that the break might come back on the last lap, particularly if one or two riders were prepared to press on.

Here with a lap and a half to go, we witnessed surely the most comical moment of the evening as young Chris attacked... Chris who was giving the first run out to his new pimped out R-Sys SL wheels decided to make a bid for glory to join the break up front. Unfortunately he only managed to achieve a gap of about a metre on the bunch, leading Phil to comment '£1500 for 1 metre'! In all seriousness with the finish on their minds it would have taken a monumental effort to get clear there. Chris was going well and was looking confident riding in the top 20 of the bunch pretty much all race and cruising up the small climb each lap. I don't think he need worry that his purchase is a good one and I can certainly testify that a fast pair of wheels makes a massive difference.

This sight of the break coming back encouraged the bunch and there was a surge, with riders all across the track looking to get in a good position, as we headed down the finish straight hearing the bell. The standard of riding in the bunch was pretty poor and there were quite a few close calls, in particular one guy who decided to turn right in the bunch and nearly wipe me out then over compensated by turning left and nearly wiping Chris out. Oh and another guy who decided to throw his bottle at face height across the bunch, I thanked him for that one! You really do need to be awake there at all times but especially in the closing stages.

As we hit the small climb on the run up to the finish the gap to the break was visibly reduced to what couldn't have been more than 10 seconds. Still this was enough for the break as they had the finish in sight and nobody in the bunch was prepared to fully commit each wanting to save themselves for 106^th.

I was up front just to stay out of trouble and couldn't be bothered sprinting for anything that wasn't the win so just free-wheeled in ending up towards the back. All the other Wills Wheels riders in the race were safely in the bunch and got home safe, a decent effort especially for those for whom it was their first race of the season.

All that was left to see if Rob had made it a treble. Showing that he is human after all Rob had been beaten into 2^nd in a really tight finish. While most of us would have been happy with this, showing the high standards he sets himself Rob was obviously a little disappointed.

I had get ready for the ride home so didn't really get the full report of who got where in the over 40's race, so apologies if I'm missing anyone's results. I did see that Dave G and Greg were away in a smallish group for a couple of laps but got caught maybe a lap or so out. Greg was up there in the sprint but his painful ribs prevented him seriously contending the win.

After paying a ridiculous £1.70 for a 500ml bottle of coke I set of with Phil for the ride back, all we had to do was follow our route out in reverse, how hard could that be?

We were making decent time on the way back and quickly found ourselves back at Vale Royal and took the familiar off road route. It was an interesting experience in the dark as the overhanging trees blocked out what little light there was, dodging the worst of the potholes was more luck that good judgement.

The next challenge we had to content with was a plague of midges (nearly spelt that midgets there, oops), thousands of the inconsiderate buggers swarming into or path. When I got home my face was still sporting plenty of those I'd hit at speed and embedded on there. Still at least we weren't eaten alive.

Clearly we were still on course when we passed the lake I'd considered stopping at on the way out. There were even finishing pegs there, which sparked memories of Matt and Jono's idea, while on the end to end, of taking up fishing. Speaking of which there is a man we haven't seen since we returned...

*** Wills Wheels calling Jono report for duty, your presence is required ***

Right about this point we decided to embark on a quest to get our Wills Wheels explorer badges. Ok what I really mean was, at some point we must have missed a right turn as we hit a main road that we definitely hadn't crossed on the way out. It might have been the A556 but who knows. Aware that even if we turned round we may not find the turn anyway we decided to continue and crossed over the main road.

We then found another main road with some signs for Great Budsworth, which we thought would take us too far 'up', towards Knutsford. Time was ticking away so we decided to take this main road following the signs for Manchester and the motorway, we could always get a police escort home! Before we hit the motorway we found some signs for Lower Peover, we had to be able to find our way from there... Isn't it strange how things look totally different in the dark? On roads we should have known we didn't and although we thought we were riding in the right direction we couldn't be sure. Still it was a nice night and there was no traffic. Perhaps all training should be done at getting on for 11pm.

After what seemed like an age but was only likely 15 minutes we hit the A50, even this frequently travelled road took us a moment to realise and a few more moments to decided which way to head. Still we were now back on familiar roads and headed back via Marthall.

The exploration/detour had only really added four of five miles to our journey. I got home after a cracking evenings riding at 11:30pm, with a sniff over 95 miles on the clock. Phil must have been getting on for midnight by the time he got back as he still had a few miles to go. If only we had this quality of weather more often as it certainly beats watching TV.

Dave