Hog Hill ELV Winter Series Round 4 - Sat 2nd Feb 13

Colin Bailey and I braced the cold weather and gusty winds for round 4 of the ELV Winter series at Hog Hill. The snow thaw the week before had left the bikes and riders looking like they had been in a 'cross' race. Something Colin did not appreciate with his sparkling clean white bar tape on his new Look 595!

 

This week the track had dried nicely but the wet muddy conditions had been substituted for a bitterly cold cross wind at the bottom of the circuit, which then turned into a lovely head wind up the 'Hoggenburg'.

 

The E/1/2/3 field this week was the biggest so far of the series with a few more fresh looking faces on the start line. From the start the pace was high, something Colin and I had a hand in by taking long turns on the front. Within a few laps Colin with his mountain goat ability up hills and my fumbling attempt to get my drink bottle, found himself unintentionally clear of the pack. On realising our current position I eased up on the front to see if Col could extend the gap and get well away.

 

It took a few laps before the pack realised what was happening, many where happy to sit on my wheel and hide from the strong wind (my 6'5 body perched on top a XXL frame offering plenty of shelter). Once aware several of the young guns upped the pace to the close the gap. After being left to fight the winds on his own, Colin once caught sat back in to recover, I did remind him we are using the races for training and he could thank we later.

 

Around 30 mins of long turns on the front and chasing multiple break attempts Kristian Woolf (2012 National Junior TT champ) had conserved energy nicely and made his break. We would not see him again until the end of the race, he won by over a minute and half over the rest of the field, at 17 yrs old this may be name to look out for in the future.

 

My constant efforts nearly became my down fall, with several attempts by the field to catch the leader the continued high pace had me out the back by a few bike lengths. It took around two laps of hard chasing to get back on the wheel.

 

Colin in the mean time had positioned him self nicely towards the front and was constantly in touch, countering every move made keeping at least one North Roader in the hunt for top 3 finish.

 

As the hilly finish suited Colin more than myself, we had agreed before the race that if things were still together I would try to lead Colin out, attacking from the last lap bell, hopefully stringing out the field to sling shot Col up the hill for a podium.

 

With the 5 lap to go board displayed the pace slightly dropped enabling us to position ourselves towards the head of the field. With 2 laps to go I positioned my self at the front looking to put our plan into action. As I only started Road Racing in November/December 2012, its all still very new to me and I find that I'm a way to eager on occasions.

 

With the sound of the bell I put in a big effort to get things going  In my eagerness I had gone a little early leaving Colin behind another rider. I found myself well clear of the pack but unfortunately with this other rider, so in hindsight our plan would of worked had I reigned my self in touch (something to learn from Paul!). The rider who had taken my wheel went on to jump me on the line to take 2nd and myself rolling in by half a wheel in 3rd. Colin came fourth in the bunch sprint, 7th overall. That''s 2 weeks on the bounce both North Road riders having finished in the points.

 

Looking back it was great race and result for me, Colin on the other hand may have other ideas! After being left out front on his own then left again on the last lap and this all by his teammate! Sorry Col, its training remember :)

 

We'll get it right for the Crest CC Season opener in March/April.

 

Paul McGrath