Dave Griffiths Memorial RR - Sunday 5th July 2009

Dave Griffiths Memorial RR (LVRC), promoted by the RT316

56 miles for A/B and C categories around Ottershaw,Surrey.

I was the loan North Road entrant to this event.  It was run in a part of the country I once knew very well indeed, having grown up just down the road, and spending some time working right on the circuit at Foxhills Country Club in my youth. It’s a pretty part of the south of which I am very fond. Unfortunately the road surface for much of this course was in dire need of resurfacing, I’ve never ridden Paris-Roubaix, but this circuit very closely simulated what I would expect. It was much like riding on rollers fabricated from 19th century washboards!

After the neutralised lead out the circuit, the race kicked off. Unlike some races which blast off as the flag goes in, this was a steady build. Even so the average speed for the first lap was a shade less than 26 mph.

The first two laps saw many attacks and attempted breakaways; being an apprentice to this sport and not knowing the participants well enough to spot decisive moves, I went with everything and nothing stuck! Predictably when I was sufficiently drained to need the cover of the bunch, and definitely not in a position to respond, that’s when it happened, early on the third lap. From my spectator’s position in the middle of a strung out bunch, it looked like about 6 – 8 got away and stayed there for the rest of the race. At no point did I feel strong enough to attempt to bridge across, and was resigned to the inevitable bunch sprint for minor placings, although even that was uncertain as the mix of categories within the break was a mystery.

It was an extremely fast finish, a close to 40mph descent straight into a fairly wide and flattish to very slightly uphill straight. The bunch was well lined out in single file as we approached the 150 m mark and with the speed already very high, there was not much acceleration for the line. However there was some regrouping and a lot of argy bargy and swearing from competitors who felt impeded, myself among them. My front wheel was clipped once and narrowly missed a second time by diagonal moves across the road. At which point I withdrew from the madness and coasted over the line (probably in the top 30), exact position unknown.

Race time (for the bunch) was 2hrs 14mins @ 24mph.