Clifton CC

Post your reports from the weekend here!
I wasn't even on the clubrun so would love to hear how that went in particular! I just got an hour in before breakfast yeaterday and 2 hours this evening, great to be out!

Who was racing?

Andy J, Paul B and I were up at Hetton Lyons Country Park for the last of four circuit races organised by Hetton Hawks. These are BCF Handicap events (E/1/2/3/4) run on a tight, undulating closed circuit - well, closed apart from a couple of dog-walkers, some mums with buggies and a fair spread o' horse crap on the climb. Each lap was about a mile, and the handicapping meant we caught the scratch group as they set off!

It was my first experience of circuit racing and it was great fun; the circuit was such that you could do it all pretty much flat out but on a few corners you were seriously well over. You certainly felt like you were shifting. Mind you, we weren't hanging around as the average was just under 25mph for the hour's race. Andy and I went off in the first and largest group, which stuck together until about 2/3 distance when a couple from the scratch group caught us and pulled a group of five clear. It stayed like that until the finish with the appallingly unlucky exception of Andy, who punctured while in the breakaway group within the final five laps and hence wasn't allowed to rejoin. I came in towards the front of the bunch but outside the points (around 12th), and Paul B's 3rds group never caught up with the 4th cats.

Good fun, and will definitely have the series in my diary next year.

Bernard led a group of 8 to Thorp Perrow via Helperby and returning via Thirsk and Easingwold. It was a nice day, pleasently warm and not too much wind.