The
race was held on the Whitwell circuit and was eight laps. This added up to an
arduous 125 kilometres which is about 20 kilometres longer than most 2/3/4 cat
races. My game plan was primarily to get round without puncturing as this
circuit is notorious for flints on the climb to St. Pauls Walden. So, armed
with some new Conti GP4000S, I lined up with 60 other riders. The rest of my
game plan consisted of eating a gel every 30 minutes for the first two hours;
finishing my two, half- litre bottles after 2.5 hours and lastly, hiding from
the wind for the first six laps.
I felt that the last two laps were going to
decide the race. The wind was light and there were quite a few good riders in
the field. Small breaks were not going to survive and big breaks were
going to be relatively easy to get into while the bunch was fresh and riders
were going to jump across. Also, I think the distance was a factor as apart
from the pace on the first climb, we didn’t really ascend the hill at a
seriously painful pace until two laps to go.
Steve Nunn had ridden off the
front and was holding a 100
metres advantage. I noticed a few of the stronger riders moved up and I joined
them to jump across to him. I was very pleased with how I felt as I sprinted up
the last section of the hill to break clear with about 15 others.
By the time
we got to
Whitwell we still had an advantage, but this eroded on the undulating section
back to Codicote. Steve Nunn was also caught as we went through to hear the bell.
A few attacks were launched on the last lap, but I was comfortable in marking
them. I arrived in Whitwell at the front of the race and I fought to stay
in the top 15 for the final two miles. I knew that we would have oncoming cars
and it would be hard work to be further back in the field as riders touched
their brakes. We went flat out up the penultimate climb as some long attacks to
the finish were attempted and I held my position. At the yellow 200 metre flag,
at the bottom of the short hill before the line, I went for it and managed to
get seventh after 3 hours and 15 minutes of racing.
1.Tim Butt Malden CC
2.Chris Spence Felt RC
3.Jason Gurney www.twenty3c.co.uk
4.Vince Divine Finchley RT
5.Gray Turnock Finsbury Pk
6.Samuel Gilzean Welwyn Wh
7.Frank Rawlins North Rd
8.Gonzalo Rodriguez ELV
9.Steve Hurrell Strada Sport
10. Unknown rider (68)
11.Russell Ford Glade CC
12.Richard Price, London Phoneix
13.Ralph Mullan Shaftesbury CC
14.Ben Lewis Finsbury Pk
15.James Fairbank CC Hackney
16.James Brown VC Norwich
17.Ben Brown CC Hackney
18.Dermt Kealey Finchley RT
19.Mike Smith Colchester CC
20.Unknown rider (66)
21.Jon Needham Finchley RT
22.Mick Fuller Team Quest
23.Phillip Murrell Finsbury Pk
24.Sean Kilroy Glade CC
25.Adam Fisher Malden CC
26.Christian Rudolf De Laune CC
27.David Miller West Suffolk Wh
28.Mark Hurrell Velo Schils Interbike
29.Malcolm Smith St Ives
30.Patrick Schils Velo Shils Interbike
31.Scott Cousins Malden CC
32.Peter Hargreaves Strada Sport
33.Unknown rider (62)
34.Micheal Rostoft Chelmer CC
35.Lubomir Belak Welwyn Wh
36.Clive Richardson Chelmer CC
37.Simon Himes Finchley RT
38.Will Hedden Glade CC
39.Glyndwr Thomas VC Norwich
