Jamie Anderson second at Hog Hill Winter Series

Hog Hill Winter Series No.1 - Saturday 6th December 2008

by Jamie Anderson

Although arguably quite late in the year to begin your racing season, December the 6th was never the less a beautifully clear day, and surprisingly mild. Having never raced before, or even visited the Redbridge Cycling Centre, I arrived good and early to try and get a feel for things. There I was greeted warmly by the boss, Ian Coles, the only other North Roader present on the day. Still 30 minutes from being able to sign up for my 4th Cat race, I decided to have a coffee (Is that a banned substance?) and sit out on the terraces watching the junior races from a distance. Unfortunately 10 year olds don’t look very big when you are standing next to them, let alone from 500 yards, so attempts to learn race strategy from the little dots on the lower track proved unsuccessful.

Once registered, I changed and prepared for a few practice laps. It became apparent that I was far from alone in making my debut. Someone asked me what the average speed was likely to be. Given the fact that I was yet to swing a pedal in anger I guessed that I must at least look the part, something reinforced by a rousing cry of ‘Go North Road’ from the office as I made my way outside.

The track was a very liberating experience for me. I am not normally good going down hill or round corners, as anyone who follows my wheel on a Saturday can attest, but without the threat of pot-holes and oncoming traffic I quickly found out that these were actually the good bits. The track is mirror smooth but recent rain had covered some of the faster sections in a thin muddy film of water, which made things interesting later on. The fearsome hill had a nice kick to it but didn’t worry me unduly. Feeling strangely relaxed I turned and made my way to the start line with a couple of minutes to the whistle, and suddenly things went quite literally a little sideways. With almost perfect timing, a dirty great lump of flint found its way into my back tire.

Panicking slightly, I upended the bike and sprinted to the lockers to retrieve tubes and levers, and managed to whip the wheel off just as the 26 who had managed to make the start line were receiving their marching orders. Very helpfully, someone emerged who looked a lot handier with the tools than me and I was able to try and hold up the race. On my return I found a perfectly race fit bike, ready to go in the nick of time. I fixed the back wheel back on and joined the back of the group.

I knew it was a very short race, only 40 mins, so I thought the pace would be pretty fast from the off. It was actually quite comfortable, cagey even. Despite the pace (we were averaging less than 20mph) people were falling of the back and there were at least two unfortunate souls who punctured in the early part of the race. Once I had banished the ‘did I tighten the back wheel properly?’ paranoia I started to enjoy myself near the front of the bunch. There were one or two half hearted breaks, one of which I half heartedly chased down, but no one seemed particularly willing to apply any real pressure. That suited me fine; I figured as long as I was near the front, the uphill sprint finish would play into my hands. Unfortunately a young guy in an Evans strip had much the same game plan, and as the hill loomed on the final lap we found our way to the front of the remaining group. What followed was an all out sprint to the finish line and I can honestly say I had nothing left at the end. While the rest of the group seemed to fall back, nothing I did could reel in the couple of meters head start the Evans guy had at the start of the sprint, but I was very pleased with the 2nd place on my debut. The atmosphere around the track and even in the group was great, but it took me a little while to recover. A light congratulatory pat on the back from a well meaning fellow rider was enough to send me half way into the mountain bike track during the warm down.

The event was very well run and the facilities at Redbridge were great. It was the perfect introduction to racing, and although my failure to obtain a license meant that the 8 points I would have received will have to be re-won another time, the event certainly whetted my appetite for the season to come. I hung around to watch Ian begin his 4th/3rd Cat race (in which he eventually finished a solid 10th) and I noticed that the pace was definitely quicker than that of my race. By this time however I was badly in need of a bacon butty, I so I picked up my Bianchi, which was looking like it had just come of a cyclo-cross race, and headed home.