First Win!

The original plan for this weekend was to open my road racing season with the rolling Braintree Velo RR near Sudbury. However, an admin error at British Cycling left me scrambling for my race calendar to see what else was on offer. Thankfully the SERRL circuit race at Gravesend Cyclopark provided the answer, and I was hopeful for a good result after securing fourth place on my previous visit.

With a stiff breeze and a rolling, reasonably technical circuit, I was expecting a similar scenario to last time, where the main group had been reduced to only ten or so riders by the midway mark. However, with 25 minutes remaining there were still 20 or so riders still in the bunch, far too many for my liking. With this in mind I moved to the front with a plan to push the pace up for a lap or two in order to thin the group down a bit.

However, I obviously hit the front a bit harder than I thought as after 20 seconds or so I looked behind to see a gap of a few seconds to the main group. After pushing on through the tight corners at the bottom of the course the gap had opened up a little bit more. From this point on there was no choice but to keep going, eyeballs out, hoping to stay away.

With my heart rate constantly around 95% of max and 20 minutes of the race still to go I wasn’t sure whether I could hold on. However, a few risks through the corners combined with plenty of ‘shut up legs’ meant that the gap just kept growing. Within a few laps it must have been a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for the main bunch, as my lead peaked at almost a minute.

By the final lap, the tough circuit, nagging wind, and a couple of tiring legs meant that my lead had dropped by a few seconds, but the bunch were still not close to being in sight on the long finishing straight. So there it was, my first ever win! Not exactly in the manner that I was expecting, but very satisfactory nonetheless. The only thing that didn’t exactly go to plan was my victory salute. My leisurely pace up the hill to the line and the deadly combination of a strong crosswind and deep section wheels meant that a one handed salute would have to suffice for fear of doing a Kenny Dehaes.

So there it is, my first ever win, and with it my third cat license, meaning that I no longer have to race against riders who might be new to bike racing. Although this will make the racing harder, it also makes it safer with most riders being more experienced at racing in a bunch.

Next up for me is the Chelmer Road Race. This is obviously a race that I would like to do well in, as it is organised by my club, but with a pan-flat course and everyone expecting a bunch sprint it’s not best suited to my abilities. A break seems to be my best option for any sort of result, but look out for a race report this time next week to find out how I get on.