East London Velo Thurs Evening 7 LVRC Thur 25th June 09

A fine and sunny evening greeted the riders for the latest round of the popular LVRC racing round the 'usual' full circuit.  Indeed, Steve Taylor's all-singing-all-dancing new fangled bike computer registered a temperature of a barmy  twenty-nine degrees, although as usual a strong head wind dominated the lower reaches of the circuit.  

The early racing was the usual full on variety that Steve and Del Evans found difficult to match and they where dropped early in the piece.  Jeff Robinson was active towards the front of the bunch before pulling out after half and hour.  It was left to Hog Hill regulars John McDowall and Richard Somerset to fly the electric blue flag for the North Road.

John played a rather more understated role in the race compared to Richard who looked strong all race, constantly on the attack and looking energetic and dominating at the front of the bunch.  For the first time in several weeks the most of the main group of C/D catogry riders, who are given a substantial head start, were caught leading to a rather larger bunch for the crunch laps at the end.

Two C/D group riders had stayed away to claim first and second, and a couple of A/B riders had also slipped away in the chaos of the final laps to take the next two places.  The final sprint up the Hoggenberg enabled Richard to claim fourth in that group (8th postion and 3rd A cat rider) while John came about tenth (14th place).