A beautiful calm evening (for a change) and sunny to boot I ride up from work 6 miles away and then ride the 10 miles home to Leicester while everybody else gets into a team car or at least a car. I'm lucky to have it so close so I feel I need to ride even though Thursday is a bit close to the weekend (the Tuesday suited better, a bigger field and slightly more forgiving) but here there is no quarter given and you just have to dig in and hang on. After half way if I'm still in the race I can usually have a bit of a go If I'm feeling good or a group has gone away and its calmed down a bit
That's what it's like today, not hard (windy) enough for the big boys to batter the rest of us into submission as half of us hang on for grim death, it's not a pan flat circuit and depending on the wind and the way we go around (anti clockwise today) there are number of chicanes left in from the cars or motorbikes who have been using it during the day and these serve to slow things down and if you're good on the corners you can make up quite a bit
Lots of splitting and re grouping as the 25 laps (32m) wear on, sometimes we are lined out to breaking point and this happens to fracture as the race progresses and the legs turn to jelly, to be fair the Raleigh boys do chase down the breaks with their men in (sometimes) otherwise it would be very one sided (and sometimes it is) as a group of five get away and 2-3 of those Raleigh pros. And today was a case in point, five away with 6 to go and the bunch split in two (me on the front of the rear group), Lucy still in there, closing the gaps and generally riding a blinder as our average is above 27mph.
I have a go on the last lap after catching the front group with half a lap to go as they play cat and mouse in the build up to the sprint but there is not much in my legs and my attack is feeble and ten riders pile past me on the rise up to the line the group of five just in front. Local fast man third cats! Carl Sturgeon (Lutterworth) and Matt Jennings (Team iOptix) sandwich Matt Gee of Raleigh for the placings.
On Saturday I had a local Melton Olympic '10' on the (famed!) Six Hills A46 latest version, with the HQ at Seagrave, I would have ridden out but it poured with rain all morning and I contented myself with 40 minutes of yoga as a warm up and to try and get some mobility into my creaking torso and legs, fit with miles but lacking in any refinement, I had a good 10 Mlle warm up to so went to the line dripping sweat and keeping my gears low (cadence high) I set about the task of reshaping my fitness into some 'form' I caught my minute man after turning off the A46 on a triangular section (A6006) to Wymeswold (more cheese Grommit!) and then I had to overtake a horsebox trailing behind my two minute man the 'supervet' Ron Hallam (S Pennine RC) who I went past at nearly 35mph (he must have thought I was breaking comp record) but single roads call for drastic action and I don't recommend it for the faint hearted
Coming back into the wind was a bit of a chore as I plugged away in my middle gears trying not to loose too much time, I would have liked to put it in a big gear and push through it but without the form also not to be recommended, so I lost a bit of time but I think the race went OK although I'm still having problems breathing at race pace 22:08 Winner on form Matt Sinclair (Lutterworth) a couple of seconds outside 30mph
On the Sunday I packed my winter bike with a pannier and set off for Lincoln, only 55 miles away along the Fosse Way but out over the Vale of Belvoir to Grantham and skirting Sleaford up onto a plateau that looks down onto the River Trent on the left and the Fens on the right with numerous old and existing RAF bases and villages with names like Croxton Kerrial, Carlton Scroop & Boothby Graffo the latter the name of a comedienne who obviously thought it had potential
The Lincoln GP is a shorter race than in the past at only 86 miles but what it has lost in distance it makes up for in the eleven climbs of the cobbled 1 in 6 Michaelgate on the 7.8 mile lap, bike and rider are shocked & shaken as the race comes alive on this hill and the spectators get a great view of the race unfolding, I have to get out the door before 9.00 to do the 70 miles detour and a lap of the circuit in reverse which always takes longer as there is a rolling road closure and then watch the finish
Youngsters came to the fore with first and third places going to U23 riders as the old guard seems to be swept away and last years winner Chris Newton now retired, I watched past winners Kevin Dawson, John Tanner, Kirsten House and Dean Downing swept aside and it was newcommer Scott Thwaites Endura Racing U23 (03:21:58) from the two Motorpoint riders Ian Bibby & Johnny McEvoy with my old Thursday mucker Raleighs Liam Hoolerhan in 5th
I then had a 55 mile ride home into a headwind, shocker!
160 strong field
Just like the TdF
Natonal 25 mile record holder David McCann (Ireland)
To the winner the interview
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