CC London - Hogg Hill 6th June and 13th June (Round 2 and 3).

Sat 13 Jun 2015

Matt ventured into his first crit racing experience taking part in CC London's Hogg Hill series with some 4th Cat only racing. This was using the bottom circuit with the new cut through, halfway up the hill for some off camber cornering.

The first race on the 6th was a bit of a shock to the system, with no race craft or experience Matt often found himself badly placed. This showed after falling out the back after 3 laps and having tired himself failed to sprint back to the relative comfort of the bunch. Matt waited for them to come around again keeping a sensible effort and jumped back on for another 4 laps until the same thing happened. The next time the bunch came around Matt jumped on and kept with the bunch until the end when he dropped off for the last 500m so as not to interfere with the result.

With his first crit under his belt Matt was back the following week with the aim to not be lapped! Its back to the old 'cross days again. Knowing that he felt fit enough to stay with the 4th cats he hoped that the one race would give him enough experience to stay with the bunch. The first 5 laps were quite hard, coupled with Matt doing some work on the first for the first lap it wasn't the best idea and Matt had visions on the same thing happening. Matt dug deep and slotted into the bunch in a top 20 place after the first lap and held on to recover, keeping on the wheel of the more experience looking riders. This worked well and soon 5 laps were down - already an improvement - and the pace had started to settle. After 10 mins like this Matt once again found himself on the front doing some more work to keep the pace up for a lap and once again slotted back in after a little bit to recover. The rest of the race was rather uneventful, apart from the usual dodging riders moving from lines. The pace increased the last few laps - once again Matt deciding he wasnt interested in taking part in a possible crashfest in the sprint and dropped off the back for the last 400m to keep clear - after all its all prep for the 'cross season.

Overall very pleased with my first venture into crit racing. A few more in the calendar to come!

Matt Crees