Another super event, held in T shirt conditions overlooking a country hall. The course for this one was 100% grassland on a gently sloping field. Sounds lovely doesn't it? The reality was that following the recent wet weather, the course rapidly broke up into sticky slippery mud which tested bike handling skills, rapidly clogged brakes, gears and made the bike 50% heavier.
Like Ted, I competed in the senior event rather than the veterans. As is usually the case, the senior event started after the veterans so by the time we started, the course was pretty much one brown ribbon snaking out in front of us. A few practice laps made it immediately apparent that there was no hiding place on the course with the only two decent downhill stretches being so long and fast, there was serious time to be had by leathering it down them.
A semi gridded start (free for all with just the front line gridded) and away we went. A start from the third line of riders meant that my weak start let me slip back a few before establishing myself in about 30th place from the 70 starters. Over the first couple of laps, I managed to reel in a group of about six and ride through them before having a pretty open course in front of me for the rest of the race. With no single track, it was a real boon not to get held up and I was able to ride at pretty much my limit all race.
On the penultimate lap, one of the guys from Hope Racing managed to come back up to me from the group of six and on the last half lap he well and truly let me have it, by putting a good 100m into me in the last half lap. The race was won by Ian Taylor, who'd come second in my race at Abergavenny last week. I think Ian must have been on one....or I wasn't, as he lapped me at about 3mins to go. I crossed the line in 24th place.
I was great to have so many spectators especially Richard Pennock and Alison shouting so enthusiastically. I noted that Richard, despite saying he'd just come to see what it was all about, was quick enough to spot the bit on the course where it was most likely to go wrong big style.
Revelation of the day was my fourteen year old son Callum. He went to the race just "to hang out" but couldn't be talked out of pitting for Ted and I. After a crash course from his dad, he's better at starting the jetwasher than his instructor and is seriously adept at achieving a mint bike by redistributing its 2kgs of mud on himself, other pit crew, spectators, photographers and a '10 plated BMW 330 parked next to us. Fearing the cleaning bill (and the fiscal consequences of Pit Monkey no1 shopping in Harrogate), we cleared off fast post race to buns and coffee in Harrogate.
More superb fun & my legs hurt this morning from going so hard.
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