Hogg Hill ELV Winter Series 26/1/13

Paul McGrath and I were both in action again this week. The first one back after the snow so a few cobwebs to blow away. Paul had just had the arrival of his baby daughter just over a week ago so he was racing on just a few hours sleep.
 
Again we spent lots of time on the front and we were trying to break it up early on. This carried on for the first 35 mins. For the first time the pace slowed slightly and someone attacked. He gradually built up a lead of about 20 seconds. There was only a handful of us that would contribute to chasing. Later after the race there was said to be a bit of confusion as the leader punctured and rejoined with the same time gap. Some riders said they didn't know he was away.... which might explain the 'sitting on' :) There were a
lot of punctures, Paul suffered one after about 40mins but changed wheel and got back in the race.
 
We carried on chasing through to the end and both Paul and myself tried a couple of times to get away but everyone was keen that it came down to a sprint.
 
Paul did another big turn for about 3/4 of the last lap. As I came into the sprint I felt my front wheel slightly deflating but I managed to come  3rd in the sprint, 4th in the race and Paul finished in 8th.

Colin.