After missing round 7 due to work commitments I was keen to give it a good go for round 8. Luckily the weather Gods were just starting to get onside, and I had a rare chance to race with a full set of aeros (so far if bought new they were costing me nearly £1000 per ride) So weather, wheels and eagerness all in place.
With the customary forty minute warm up concluded I lined up with the bunch. No guns or whistles just Trudies off you go, and we're racing. I was really keen not to get on the front today, usually I don't mind as I finish out of the top ten, so see this as my opportunity to do some work that might just have the smallest effect on the race?
I chose to keep on Pete Smiths wheel, now there's a good wheel to shadow. Riding along side him the race felt slow, but within minutes we were lapping the EF race and picking up dropped AB's so clearly not slow. I can only conclude that we were doing it right. So it was going well, and I wasn't at all tired.
Then! The lead AB race came past us, which is fine. We allowed a little gap to form so the two races didn't influence each other. However a group of 'our' back markers jumped on the AB race and we gave chase. I did say we should leave them as I didn't think they'd live with the AB's, but heckles up we went after them and the race became fast and messy.
I was annoyed by the lack of sportsmanship shown by those backmarkers and felt sorry for those that had worked hard for half of the race now floundering like myself.
Of course the strong riders regained their rightful place and the backmarkers fell one by one to the wayside.
The remainder of us TT'd to the finish and ended it with a minor places bunch sprint...which I took (insert smiley face here)
Justin took a win in the F race. Dave didn't win tonight only because he was marshalling.
Round 9.
Proper nice tonight sunny and still, and a four man LBRCC turnout with a man in AB CD and two in EF.
Good tight racing tonight. Not much to say as we kept together for ages. I did a rather foolish breakaway at about twenty minutes before returning to the back to push my lungs back down. The big boys were struggling to get away.
I was beginning to sniff it tonight before going off the back. Then I got the bell when I shouldn't have and pulled up early. No problem though, wasn't going to win and had put my strongest ride in so far. No silly bugger break aways next week, as I might have come between 8th and 11th looking at the results.
Andrew Martin came in 10th in a super strong AB field. Dave Brown top three in F followed Justin in the F race.
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