EUCC Gifford Road Race - A Day of Continental Racing! Pulling up to park outside the race HQ in Gifford, the sun was shining, it was fabulously warm, and just a mild breeze that would keep things interesting. Surely Ive got my dates wrong - we cant have a bike race in these conditions? Can we? Oh yes we can! Signed on, turbo out, and warm up started - the breeze did little to keep the sweat at bay - next time Ill need to remember a towel. A couple of guys suggested I should save my energy and not bother with a warm up, but routine is routine! After a brief delay, the peloton set off just after ten oclock. A full field of riders, with a healthy Cat 2 contingent headed round the undulating Gifford course. Two mild climbs, two speedy descents, one fantastic left hand bend that can be taken at brake neck speed, but a few too many tractors! Seven laps of the 13km course. The first lap disappeared surprisingly quickly. Nothing terribly exciting was developing on the second lap, so I pushed on the front up the main climb along the back of the course on the off-chance of starting something interesting, but no joy. At the start of the third lap, a rider, that shall remain nameless, ignored all the warnings of NOSE and swept round the junction leaving Gifford, going across the road and almost under the wheels of a massive tractor pulling a trailer. He was right in front of me when he braked sharply, skidded his rear wheel, but managed to hold it together and avoid carnage. If he had gone down, Id almost certainly have been taken out, and who knows where wed all have wound up. Another rider patted him on the back, congratulating him on his bike handling skills, while another rider commented to me on the guys stupidity skills... Rumour has it that the same guy caused a crash in the last lap, but I didnt see it, so I dont know for sure (he certainly looked sheepish and Johnny Nae Matesish back at the HQ afterwards)... A bit further up the road, and about six of us started a break. We vaguely worked well together and started to gap the bunch a bit, but then the bunch reacted and closed us down. So on we rode. This was pretty much how it went for the next couple of laps - attacks went in, a gap made, then it eventually got closed down again. Until the last lap. Four riders managed to finally get away - Im not sure of the gap they finally got, but it was enough. The rest of us had to fight it out at the sprint finish. I managed to get myself into a great position - drafting behind a reasonably fast rider, with space to move around him. Unfortunately, as is the nature of road racing, a great position can turn into a crap one in the blink of an eye... The sprint kicked off a bit further out than I expected - snick down the gears, onto the drops, out of the saddle, and accelerate - this is always my favourite moment in a race. Then, some clown comes right across the front of me. The only thing I can do is to touch the brakes to avoid his back wheel, losing 3kph and losing my tempo - a big deal with less than 200m to go. Git. Back on the sprint, get round the numpty and get to the finish - a very satisfying 14th place - two points earned in this Band 3 race. Next up: Eastern Promise. Revisiting an old nightmare!
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 21:10:28 +0000