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Mid Suffolk Road Race cat 3/4 Sunday 12 August
Jason Stuart and I arrived separately at the HQ, in beautiful conditions in Somersham, Suffolk as the temperature was edging towards 18 degrees at 0800 and we prepared ourselves by signing on and getting ready for the 0900 start.
As it was my Birthday, my Wife and Sons tagged along to cheer us on, which turned it into a rather special day for me.
The bunch rolled out 1 or 2 miles to the start of an undulating course and the hi-vis vest 'neutral' flag dropped as we crossed the line for the first time of 7 laps (49 miles). Thankfully a reasonably steady pace to start as I haven't raced since a poor start to the season in the spring, and Jason and I settled comfortably into the last third of the bunch for the first few laps to see how things developed. We experienced some nice long open sections, a demanding, fast, downhill twisty back section and a drag of a medium climb back to the start. For me the excellent marshalling kept all this as low risk as possible.
As we completed the first lap, I was pleased to spot my eldest Son, Daniel, holding up the laps to go board, that gave me a real morale boost and was secretly very proud, even behind enemy lines CCA show the others how to run a race!
A fairly uneventful race all told, a few mechanicals and the highlight for me was sitting at the back of the race and spotting Jason off the front, working hard? no, eating a banana!! Strong bloke.
I struggled on the third or second to last lap and had to dig very deep to hang on to the pack up the climb, but a tap on the back from Jason as he passed (thanks for that) gave me the spur I needed and I managed to hang on and recovered enough to stay to the end.
Over the line for the last lap, and I then spotted my youngest Son, Ethan, had joined the team and was ringing the bell, another great boost after my shaky lap just before.
The speed picked up on the final lap, 1 man was away, and as we turned the corner and approached the line up the (painfully long) climb it was every man for himself as per. I was pleased to see Jason shoot off and he thinks he claimed around 13th. For me, I was very pleased to finish at the back of the pack but managed to claim a few scalps just before the line, probably top 30, but no idea. The guy that got away won it and when I spoke to him after the race, he said 'Yeh, it's 'cos I can't sprint' and I thought to myself 'Yeh, I wish I couldn't sprint but could get away from a marauding pack, hungry for victory, up a drag of a hill too!!'. Congratulations to him though, well deserved.
Once the race was over, we suddenly realised how hot it was too. Great conditions.
Final perk of my day was driving home, I was thanking my boys for the excellent work they did and they said, 'don't forget we waved the chequered flag too Dad!'. Funny, but for some reason I don't remember that bit.
Hopefully Jason will post with his account.
As it was my Birthday, my Wife and Sons tagged along to cheer us on, which turned it into a rather special day for me.
The bunch rolled out 1 or 2 miles to the start of an undulating course and the hi-vis vest 'neutral' flag dropped as we crossed the line for the first time of 7 laps (49 miles). Thankfully a reasonably steady pace to start as I haven't raced since a poor start to the season in the spring, and Jason and I settled comfortably into the last third of the bunch for the first few laps to see how things developed. We experienced some nice long open sections, a demanding, fast, downhill twisty back section and a drag of a medium climb back to the start. For me the excellent marshalling kept all this as low risk as possible.
As we completed the first lap, I was pleased to spot my eldest Son, Daniel, holding up the laps to go board, that gave me a real morale boost and was secretly very proud, even behind enemy lines CCA show the others how to run a race!
A fairly uneventful race all told, a few mechanicals and the highlight for me was sitting at the back of the race and spotting Jason off the front, working hard? no, eating a banana!! Strong bloke.
I struggled on the third or second to last lap and had to dig very deep to hang on to the pack up the climb, but a tap on the back from Jason as he passed (thanks for that) gave me the spur I needed and I managed to hang on and recovered enough to stay to the end.
Over the line for the last lap, and I then spotted my youngest Son, Ethan, had joined the team and was ringing the bell, another great boost after my shaky lap just before.
The speed picked up on the final lap, 1 man was away, and as we turned the corner and approached the line up the (painfully long) climb it was every man for himself as per. I was pleased to see Jason shoot off and he thinks he claimed around 13th. For me, I was very pleased to finish at the back of the pack but managed to claim a few scalps just before the line, probably top 30, but no idea. The guy that got away won it and when I spoke to him after the race, he said 'Yeh, it's 'cos I can't sprint' and I thought to myself 'Yeh, I wish I couldn't sprint but could get away from a marauding pack, hungry for victory, up a drag of a hill too!!'. Congratulations to him though, well deserved.
Once the race was over, we suddenly realised how hot it was too. Great conditions.
Final perk of my day was driving home, I was thanking my boys for the excellent work they did and they said, 'don't forget we waved the chequered flag too Dad!'. Funny, but for some reason I don't remember that bit.
Hopefully Jason will post with his account.
Comments
I gotta get me one of Jason's bananas it seems. Well done Jason too.