ELV Hog Hill Summer Series 1 (3/4) - 9th May 2013

An overcast sky and very strong winds made it tempting to stay at home on Thursday evening, but I knew I’d probably end up regretting it, so I set off for a very gusty ride down to Redbridge. There was a fairly large field for the 3/4s, not so many in the E/1/2/3 and only about 5 for the women’s race. As the lone North Roader (where were you all guys?!?!) I was quite happy to see Dulwich Paragon and East London Velo both well represented which was good for me as it meant I shouldn’t need to chase much. The youthful exuberance of the previous Saturday was thankfully nowhere to be seen as I rode the wheels throughout the first two thirds of the race. Whilst it wasn’t really raining, there was the occasional bit of spitting, so the bunch was going slowly through the corners and for the most part I was riding within myself. A couple of near misses punctuated the otherwise uneventful opening to the race; first when the rider in front locked up the rear wheel and careered across the track with his bike at 45 degrees, then when someone else’s handlebar hooked up with mine (it must have been attracted to my flawless bar tape!) but fortunately, like strict parents, me and the other rider separated them before their romance could blossom any further and we both stayed upright.

I was starting to tire as we got towards the tail end of the race, but the sight of the 5 to go card got the adrenaline pumping again. 2 to go and I decided I should probably move up the field a bit, which I did successfully until the next go up the hill, where I chose possibly the worst wheel in the peloton and could only watch as he slowed and the tight knit bunch came around the sides, putting me at the back again. I moved back up to the front third on the back straight and down the other side gained another couple of places on the outside, but a bit of a vortex on the final couple of bends put me back down the field a bit. Coming into the final go up the hill much too far back I decided to go up the left hand side for the shallower gradient, but in hindsight I should have taken the inside where there was more space. I got blocked in at the base of the climb and had to start my sprint from a long way out, passing a fair few riders on my way to the finish in 8^th place. Looking back I think I finished quite strongly, gaining a fair bit of ground on the head of the bunch in the last 50 metres or so. Again positioning let me down but hopefully that should only improve with time.

Jobe Usher