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A few of us out at Tockwith last night, despite the blustery conditions - I did much of the ride out there into a headwind in my lowest available gear!

Tim, Simon, Andy Myers, Dave Cook and myself off in the 4ths-only. The wind meant it was terribly stop-go, with no-one willing to work on the front, no successful escapes and an awful lot of unpredictable riding which resulted in a mid-race crash for Cycleworks' Andrew Windrum. As the elbowing cranked up on the final couple of laps I slipped back to safety and idly wondered if I'd get a "Kit Gilham moment" with them all bringing each other down. Sadly not.

General message:- talk to each other - tell riders if you're coming through, and expect to get verbally roasted by Cliff Beldon if you scare the s**t out of everyone!

Reuben, Cam and I (apologies if I missed anyone else) had a go at the Tockwith race tonight.

The sun was out and was accompanied by quite a strong headwind down the start/finish straight as previous weeks have seen.

I began the race right at the head of the bunch alongside Cam and tried to maintain my position in the top 15 riders throughout the 25 laps. Several unsuccessful breaks headed up the track. One of about a dozen riders, including Cam and Reuben, looked pretty strong to stay away but unfortunately only managed a few laps before the bunch decided enough was enough. A couple of solo escape attempts were also looking very strong; one guy managed to slip away unnoticed for several laps until about 5 to go when he was chased down by the We[heart]Mountains team.

I made sure I stayed towards the head of the pack for the last lap as the pace upped. Saw one slightly dangerous/scary piece of riding when someone hopped up onto the inside curb on the exit of the chicane and continued to hop off into the side of another rider in the aim of gaining an extra place. Somehow they both managed to stay upright!

Unfortunately, I positioned myself poorly for the last corner: on the outside, so could only sit and watch as a few other riders cruised up the inside of me. On the exit I saw one guy clip his pedal on the floor, which was inevitably followed by his rear wheel moving about a foot through the air. He thankfully stayed upright, but it certainly made me jump and I lost momentum: thats a confidence thing though which will only come through more I guess.

In the end I managed a suprising ninth place, which I was very pleased with, especially with it being only my 3rd race, although I still obviously have the feeling that I could've done better after the antics of the last corner.

All in all, the race was good fun, really enjoyed it Much less scary than last weeks nervous race. Looking forward to having another go next week

Cheers

Well done Andy (and the rest of you for having a good go at it) - we're on the points table, at last!

Really enjoyed this. Worth doing to see what must be now the traditional Cliff Beldon ferocious rollicking that he gave another rider for some transgression towards the end of the race!

Simon was also part of the Clifton contingent and he, Reuben and I finished reasonably close together but out of contention for the sprint.

Well done Andy!

Very enjoyable evening last night. Well done Andy for finishing in the points!

Its interesting to watch the team tactics going on, 2 teams were noticable - We Love Mountains and Dirtwheels. The We Love Mountains boys were very diligent in how they approached the race. At the mid-point sprint, 4 of them worked together to break away from the group with half a lap to go. They then attempted a similar break with about 3 laps to go from the finish. During the rest of the race, they were having a cup of tea and some biscuits somewhere towards the back of the bunch. A bit boring maybe, but effective.

Collectively we have some very strong riders and I'm sure we could get some more points on the board with a bit of team work. I will be there at 6:30 next week and I'm happy to discuss "strategy" with anyone during the warm-up laps!

Photos are on facebook now for anyone not on the list: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... .583618678
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Great nights racing last night. Felt much safer than last week - even had time to have a chat with Reuben midway round. Similar scenario to previous weeks - fairly predictable accelerations along the home straight - pace going up and down every few laps and then a mad gallop with 2 to go. Felt fairly strong but recognise there is quite a big difference in tactics and fitness between finishing just outside the top ten and just within. Let's go with Reuben's suggestion and ride as a group next week. I am happy to ride within the pack and lead someone out onto the last bend - that might be my best shot at glory !

Well done everyone who kept with it this week - hope to be there next Tuesday (in time for the 4ths race this time!). The plan is [redacted]

Andy, Reuben, Tom, Simon, Toby and I made up Team Clifton in last night's 4ths race. After a showery day it was a pleasant surprise to find a dry circuit at Tockwith and the rain held off for our race. After Andy had set the bar last week we were keen to get a few more points on the board so our 'game plan' was an attempt to replicate the We love Mountains Team's strategy from last week when they seemed to stay in the bunch for most of the race to only show with a few laps to go. We duly did this and seemed to keep together quite well throughout the race. I managed to find my way to the front with lap and half to go (There was a 3 man breakaway which just about got caught before the end); Reuben came round me with 3/4 lap to go and just missed out on a top ten in the end with an 11th place. Andy came through nicely again to finish 12th with Tom, Simon, Toby and I watching the sprint a few metres back. So plan nearly worked! Race a bit quicker than last week - ave. about 24mph.There was some discussion afterwards about the team maybe trying something different next time??
Thoroughly enjoyable evening....

Managed to find some confidence in this race and managed to dramatically improve on my group riding i found myself able to move through the group, a huge contrast to tagging on the back and sprinting round every corner! It was so much smoother and my legs were saved from endlass sprinting!
As a result i was able to finish in the bunch, which was a great result for me, really boosting my confidence. The only edgy moment came a matter of metres before the line where someone had eased up and i had to dodge around them, im just happy no one was on my wheel!
Really looking forward to next week now, where i can build on, and try to finish much higher towards the end, felt like i had the legs, just needed to move up the group at the finish.
Overall really enjoyed myself, great experience, anf nice to meet some more cliftonites

Toby

Really good outing last night and it was great to be riding with 6 of us from Clifton. I think there is quite a large psychological advantage when you feel you are riding with a team as well as the actual encouragement of someone telling you to keep up!

Last race of this series next week and it will be great if we can get some of us across the line in the top ten. We were ridiculously close as a group last night with most of us finishing in places 11 to 20 and only seconds behind the top ten. With a small change in tactics, we can move this up!

Great nights racing on Tuesday - and good to be part of a strong group. I felt really good and decided to have a do or die attempt at catching the lone leader some 300m off the front for the second prime - just pipping him to the line - only to realise he wasn't actually the leader (another three were ahead - who I thought were back markers). However, great boost for my confidence to be able to rejoin the group and hang in on recovery for a couple of laps to then get back into it and have a go at the finish. I realise my "track" tactics of hanging back until 400m to go are not effective - think you need to be in the top 10 before the chicane to stand any chance of a placing. Looking forward to next week. Might need to bring some CX tires for Andy !

Tough racing at tockwith today and a good clifton turnout ,
Finished easily in the pack. Found it real difficult to move through the group, and i probably went out a little too hard yesterday. Stayed around the middle for most of the ride, tried to move up via the outside but bottled it at the checane and dropped back a few lengths to tuck in. :/

Another good experience, and again something to build on.

Notices at the start explained how you should look out for riders easing up in the sprint, which again got in the way today. But would it not make sense to just tell people *not* to ease up in the sprint?

Saw some people taking pictures today, would anyone know where to find them?

tobz

Good effort from all the Clifton group tonight - everyone seemed to be in the mix and riding safely. Probably the most scary event so far - a couple of riders in the bunch who seemed completely unaware of the consequences of changing line quickly. Reuben and I had a go at the second prime - he was just pipped - I ran out of width on the bend. Look forward to seeing how the next series goes as 3rd cats are in the mix.

Re the pictures - there have been some from every event on Neil Hendry's facebook page - which you can find easily from the Yorkshire Circuit Series page. If you cannot find it let me know.

Simon

[quote="Tobzlerone"] would it not make sense to just tell people *not* to ease up in the sprint?
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I think the reason people ease up is simply because they are racing for points which are only allocated to riders in the top 10 I believe? So if they notice they are out of reach of the top 10 they feel no need to sprint for nothing as it were.

As already said really, a nervous race tonight with some strange changes of line and daft braking points. Not as scary as the race earlier in the series though which saw one of the Cycleworks guys go down.

I think tonight was the fastest race of the series that I've taken part in with the average just over 25mph. All good learning. Was great to see at least 6 Clifton riders out, and well done Reuben and Simon for your efforts in the sprint!

Cheers,
Andrew

First race of the year for me (late start due to new family addition) and with the, erm, interesting riding mid field I was happy to stay towards the rear for most of the race as I've not had any racing to get comfortable with all the argy bargy this year. The pace was not so high to make this a problem and I quite enjoyed following the wheels and getting into the swing of it. I wish I'd moved up with 4 or 5 laps to go as I had good legs but I'll keep them to fight another day

Best Clifton turnout I've ever seen at a race, and nice to see so many younger riders competing in Clifton colours too - long may it continue!