ELV Winter Series Round 5 - Sat 9th Feb 13

ELV Winter Series Round 5, Saturday 9th February 201,3 the penultimate round of the series.

Current series points/table for the ‘Badger’ (E/1/2/3) had been posted on the wall at registration and had me in 4^th and Colin in 6^th respectively. “I’m only a few points off the top” I thought to myself and with the current leaders not present today, another podium today could put “me” in with a shout. Little was I to know this would be my last positive thought of the day.

Conditions were gloomy,overcast  and cold but there were several comments made on how the flag outside the clubhouse was completely still. Something Colin stated he had never seen while racing here. That was good news, this meant no wind.

As Colin mentioned in a previous write up I’ve just become a father. three weeks in and the serious lack of sleep and returning back to work is starting to take its toll, so not having to battle the wind was a welcomed treat.

On the start line this week there were a few more fresh faces, most of them teenagers (no wind but fresh young legs, not what I needed) and more of team feel, as there were several clubs with mulitiple riders present today.

The start of the race was not as frantic as the others had been. It was a rather cagey affair with no one really wanting to take it on. After two laps this changed, the pace went up and it stayed there.

Definitely the most tactical race I have ridden so far (this being my 9^th race so not much), breaks were happening all the time, teams were getting on the front, sending riders up the road and trying to dictate pace. These were then countered by other teams and with individual riders not wanting to miss out ,constant counter attacks and chases were made. We are now roughly 5-6 laps in and I’m blowing,gasping for breath at the back looking for any wheel to get on just to stay in touch.

While I’m going flat out just trying not to get dropped, Colin the seasoned racer he is, was nicely placed, always 3 from the front and sniffing out the right time to go. By now the dark gloomy clouds had opened up. A freezing cold rain, greasing the track up nicely. Colin looked primed for action, when all of a sudden the arm came out to signal he had punctured. He had just gone down the back hill, so a quick trip back to the top and a wheel change before he got back in.

My plight did not change, still struggling at the back but now with the rain, couldn’t get to close to the man in front as I couldn’t see anything due to the spray.

By now Colin was back in the group and had steadily worked his way back toward the front. A group of three had got clear by about 15 secs at this stage and with the corners getting a little dicey in the wet, Colin saw his opportunity to join the break.

While others were feathering the brakes in the corners at the bottom of the circuit, Colin let his go, put in a big turn and caught the break by the end of the lap.

This group of four would stay away for several laps, they were eventually pulled back by the constant efforts of all the eager young blood in the race.

Once the pack was back together, the pace still high and had us all strung out single file, like it had been the whole race. Coming across the start finish line into the sweeping left hander, a rider took it a little too tight and washed out hitting the deck hard. He drifted across the track causing another four others to take evasive manoeuvres, Colin and me being two of them. All four of us heading toward the adjacent MTB trails, one poor rider found the ditch and went over the bars, Colin somehow managed to drop an anchor and stop inches from the same ditch. Me on the other hand had the brakes on 20m back which had no effect and I had to result to my DH MTB skills and jump the ditch.

Thankfully no one was seriously injured.

The majority of those involved rejoined the race and shortly after the five lap to go board was issued. At this point there was a lot of shuffling in the pack, teams getting together, looking to set things up for a fast finale.

Due to the accident I had some fresh adrenaline in the veins and while taking the lap out also managed to catch my breath. I saw this as an opportunity to repay Col for last week and try and get him a good finish. So I took to the front with Col on my wheel and set a good pace. With three to go ELV came past up the hill and then set a good tempo for the lap. With two to go with Colin still on the wheel I took back to the front and tried to take control. By now the field had strung out and riders were getting dropped each lap. Coming into the bell ELV made a move to counter on my left. I quickly put in an effort to retake the lead to dictate the pace of the final lap. My move was quickly covered by ELV, so Colin was currently sitting third wheel. This was good enough so I put my foot on the gas and strung it out. At the base of the hill around 500 to go my legs went and I pulled over leaving Colin placed behind the rider form ELV.

Looking up the hill Colin was nicely placed in a group of four ready to pounce. Unfortunately he got boxed in on the steeper part with no where to go, so was unable to counter any move. Colin rolled in 9^th and myself about 2 mins later in 13^th wanting to pass out.