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Rapha RR 2015
This morning saw the first edition of the Rapha Cycling Club's regional A road race, rolling out of Great Chesterford onto the Glade RR circuit, which is similar to the Crest RR circuit but with a slightly longer hill with more kicks and a different route round the back lanes into Elmdon before getting back onto the same main road that the Crest circuit uses. Most of this course is actually on the Geoff Deny.
Before the race even begun, the tone was set well with lots of helpful marshals, excellent coffee, fancy numbers and pins (including a seat post number), free chamois cream and the smell of freshly grilled bacon filling the HQ. It was everything you could expect from a brand such as Rapha. The organisation was superb, the weather was perfect and the whole race felt reassuringly expensive (without costing a penny more than your usual road race). They even had loud music blaring out every time we went through the finish line and cow bells aplenty!
Neil and myself were the only representatives from CCA today. Having not seen the circuit before it was a bit of a surprise (and slightly painful) when the neutralised car took us up the climb at a silly speed leaving me gasping for air at the top. This did not bode well for the rest of the race as I desperately tried to figure out a way to get in the points on this one... With one long climb and 3 or 4 shorter steep kicks around the rest of the circuit it didn't seem that a break would stick so Neil and I sat in the bunch and let it concertina around us with the varying terrain. The only place I could see being able to put a bit of time into the bunch was about 5 or 6 miles from the finish line, a long stretch of fast main road half way round the circuit. With 3 guys away and 2 hovering off the front of the bunch I attacked on the last lap, joined up with 2 Rapha riders, worked together (with a little bit of, erm, motivational chat) and caught the 3 already away. We hit the bottom of the climb as a group of 6, quickly reducing to 4. A Glendene rider attacked on the steepest part of the climb, which I thought was too early as there was a flat bit and slight descent before the finish line. Nobody reacted out of the remaining 3 riders so I took the opportunity to chase him and see if I could catch him before the line. Turns out he hadn't gone too early and he held me off by 3 seconds to take the win. A young rider called James Rix who also got his first cat with the win, a very classy way to do it! I was more than happy with 2nd place, especially on a long hill finish. Neil finished at the front end of the bunch sprint.
After the race there was more free coffee, tubs of chicken salad and trays of pasta, cakes and various other treats. The prizes were well worth the trip (I made more than my petrol money, for a change!) and the atmosphere was great. Even without a good result I would find this race hard to top. Great organisation a great circuit and prizes really worth going for!
And free food........
Before the race even begun, the tone was set well with lots of helpful marshals, excellent coffee, fancy numbers and pins (including a seat post number), free chamois cream and the smell of freshly grilled bacon filling the HQ. It was everything you could expect from a brand such as Rapha. The organisation was superb, the weather was perfect and the whole race felt reassuringly expensive (without costing a penny more than your usual road race). They even had loud music blaring out every time we went through the finish line and cow bells aplenty!
Neil and myself were the only representatives from CCA today. Having not seen the circuit before it was a bit of a surprise (and slightly painful) when the neutralised car took us up the climb at a silly speed leaving me gasping for air at the top. This did not bode well for the rest of the race as I desperately tried to figure out a way to get in the points on this one... With one long climb and 3 or 4 shorter steep kicks around the rest of the circuit it didn't seem that a break would stick so Neil and I sat in the bunch and let it concertina around us with the varying terrain. The only place I could see being able to put a bit of time into the bunch was about 5 or 6 miles from the finish line, a long stretch of fast main road half way round the circuit. With 3 guys away and 2 hovering off the front of the bunch I attacked on the last lap, joined up with 2 Rapha riders, worked together (with a little bit of, erm, motivational chat) and caught the 3 already away. We hit the bottom of the climb as a group of 6, quickly reducing to 4. A Glendene rider attacked on the steepest part of the climb, which I thought was too early as there was a flat bit and slight descent before the finish line. Nobody reacted out of the remaining 3 riders so I took the opportunity to chase him and see if I could catch him before the line. Turns out he hadn't gone too early and he held me off by 3 seconds to take the win. A young rider called James Rix who also got his first cat with the win, a very classy way to do it! I was more than happy with 2nd place, especially on a long hill finish. Neil finished at the front end of the bunch sprint.
After the race there was more free coffee, tubs of chicken salad and trays of pasta, cakes and various other treats. The prizes were well worth the trip (I made more than my petrol money, for a change!) and the atmosphere was great. Even without a good result I would find this race hard to top. Great organisation a great circuit and prizes really worth going for!
And free food........
Comments
Spectacular ride, Will! Enjoyed the report