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Essex Roads Spring Road Race
Yesterday, on a lovely warm and dry, albeit fairly tight, circuit just outside of Chelmsford, 3 CCA blues were out racing - Martin L, Dave W & I. Parking, sign-on etc. all nice and smooth. The roll-out was delayed slightly due to one rider getting a puncture outside event HQ (his tubeless sealant took a short while to work). No-one seemed to mind - he got surprisingly little abuse I thought!!
The neutral start was uneventful and we were soon up to racing speed. Martin got himself nearer the front. Not really sure where Dave got to. I was too far back. Not really ideal.
This was my first race of the season. Actually, it was my first proper group ride this year too. Apparently I developed some sort of "bunch-riding-nervousness" over the winter. Whilst saying that was scared in the group would be an over-statement, I was not at all relaxed! It took my a couple of laps (of the 9.4km circuit / 8.75 lap race) before I began to relax and started to enjoy it all... being nervous is certainly tiring. Too many times did I have to push hard to stay on a wheel!
However, after I did calm down a little, I began to really enjoy the speed (it was fast - average speed over 82km was 41kph*). Once I got into the rhythm, a familiar pattern began to emerge. At the start of the lap, I'd hear Dave's aero wheels catching me. Then I'd ride with Dave through the village and start to push further up the bunch on the way up to the hard left at the top of the circuit. The commissionaire would shout "stay on your side of the road" at the Rapha CC riders as we sped to the left turn onto the (slight) hill. I'd also be able to push up more and get on to Martin's wheel near the front of the bunch in the run to this corner.
Although the hill was not all that steep really, I always lost places on it. It is pretty twisty and I think I scrubbed too much speed into the corners making the exits too hard.
Then up the hill - with some comedy avoidance in the bunch of the flag-marked-pothole (despite it being there every lap - it wasn't until lap 7 that the everyone seemed to remember where it was!) over the finish line & it would start all over again.
My previous races have seen me getting spat out of the back of the bunch and not finishing. So I really wanted to stay involved and finish this one. For that, mission was accomplished. I finished towards the back of the bunch, which I was pleased with - although with hindsight, I didn't really give it everything on the final lap. Too worried about actually finishing. Still, this is a clear thing to work on next time!
Overall, a great mornings bike racing. It is great to race with some teammates - familiar faces in the bunch is great, plus some chat pre- and post- race is good. As Martin has mentioned, the CCA blue really stands out in the peloton (in a good way... some of the other clubs have some really quite horrid kit. I wonder how many people choose a club based on the kit??!).
Mat
*51.7 miles / 25.6 mph for those who want to see things in old-money! :-)
The neutral start was uneventful and we were soon up to racing speed. Martin got himself nearer the front. Not really sure where Dave got to. I was too far back. Not really ideal.
This was my first race of the season. Actually, it was my first proper group ride this year too. Apparently I developed some sort of "bunch-riding-nervousness" over the winter. Whilst saying that was scared in the group would be an over-statement, I was not at all relaxed! It took my a couple of laps (of the 9.4km circuit / 8.75 lap race) before I began to relax and started to enjoy it all... being nervous is certainly tiring. Too many times did I have to push hard to stay on a wheel!
However, after I did calm down a little, I began to really enjoy the speed (it was fast - average speed over 82km was 41kph*). Once I got into the rhythm, a familiar pattern began to emerge. At the start of the lap, I'd hear Dave's aero wheels catching me. Then I'd ride with Dave through the village and start to push further up the bunch on the way up to the hard left at the top of the circuit. The commissionaire would shout "stay on your side of the road" at the Rapha CC riders as we sped to the left turn onto the (slight) hill. I'd also be able to push up more and get on to Martin's wheel near the front of the bunch in the run to this corner.
Although the hill was not all that steep really, I always lost places on it. It is pretty twisty and I think I scrubbed too much speed into the corners making the exits too hard.
Then up the hill - with some comedy avoidance in the bunch of the flag-marked-pothole (despite it being there every lap - it wasn't until lap 7 that the everyone seemed to remember where it was!) over the finish line & it would start all over again.
My previous races have seen me getting spat out of the back of the bunch and not finishing. So I really wanted to stay involved and finish this one. For that, mission was accomplished. I finished towards the back of the bunch, which I was pleased with - although with hindsight, I didn't really give it everything on the final lap. Too worried about actually finishing. Still, this is a clear thing to work on next time!
Overall, a great mornings bike racing. It is great to race with some teammates - familiar faces in the bunch is great, plus some chat pre- and post- race is good. As Martin has mentioned, the CCA blue really stands out in the peloton (in a good way... some of the other clubs have some really quite horrid kit. I wonder how many people choose a club based on the kit??!).
Mat
*51.7 miles / 25.6 mph for those who want to see things in old-money! :-)
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