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Elvedon 1 road race - dirtier than cyclo X
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| From Elvedon Road race 1 |
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| From Elvedon Road race 1 |
Actually results not to follow. Unless you are good enough to get in top 10 for your cat it does not look like you count. The first foray into road racing and have obviously been spoilt by CX and their excellent results service for half the cost.
that said it was a good event despite the foul weather. Well attended for a first event. Would expect the next ones to be sold out especially the 4th cat. Jackie had a good first race. She lost the main pack on the 3rd bend after about 3 miles and had a lap by herself. Shen then got in with a group of 4 who worked well together till the last lap. 2 of them got dropped and Jackie and another woman got away. The woman who was with Jackie sat on her wheel with about 2 miles to go. Fortunately the finish was an up hill and Jackie out sprinted her.
It was Noahs first road race and he spent much of it by himself but pleased that he got 4 laps in. Last time i saw Gareth he was working well in a group.
Things I have learnt. Tri bars not allowed. I had sort of guessed that so was planning on Jackie and Noah using their x bikes with a change of tyres. Luckily I had a chat with Mark W at training on Wednesday who pointed out that disc brakes were not allowed either. More tyre and bike changing soon sorted that. The gear restriction for Noah was not an issue as he had to use his brothers bike which is well under geared.
Gareth nearly had a problem at gear check where the judge said his was a couple of mm out!!!!!
Must take more dry clothing with us.
My only other comment about the day was the actions of a commisaire after a crash in the under 16 race. About 5 went down near the finish. A couple of lads were on the track clearly injured. He parked his car and said they could not stay as the rest of the race was coming through. He then, without checking lifted this boy to the side. I saw the boy later and he was injured but Ok
Might even have ago at the next one myself
Stuart
Comments
The 4th Cat race had the almost inevitable crash. This happens regularly at Hillingdon as there isnt a hill to separate the riders out as there is at Hogg Hill. New venue, Slippy conditions, flat course and a wide range of experience levels all added up to a sketchy finish.
In the Youth A Daniels outlook at the beginning was that there were a lot of new riders and afterwards that there was a fair proportion of these as the peloton went into the finishing sprint. Again conditions and disparate experience levels could have been contributory factors.
I initially thought one of my squad had been involved and sprinted down to the scene of the crash. On arrival I saw some riders on the floor and the Assistant Com. trying to clear the track ahead on the oncoming Youth B sprint (25mph). Stopping this peloton in mid sprint would have been almost impossible. I think he had a difficult and very quick decision to make and I wouldnt have liked to be in his shoes.
Anyway, the Maynards are looking forward to the next event at this location and were all hoping that itll be a sunny one!
Richard
Daniel