Topic Title

....I headed out to Walkington for the third in the EYRRL series after having heard rumours of the possibility of EOL, and phoning the organiser to check that he'd save me a place. Not the best evening for it, with massive downpours roaming across Yorkshire, but it was mainly dry for the race. Tim completed the mini-Team Clifton and we led off the large second of, I think, four groups.

Not my finest hour - didn't feel too good right from the off and HR never got above 160 despite breathing through every available orifice. Got cramp in both legs the second time up the looooong drag, so sat up for a while and awaited the arrival of the faster groups. They caught me on the fast descent and my plans to hitch a ride were scuppered by getting into a major wobble which convinced me I had a puncture (but I didn't. Gravel? Patch of snails? dunno.) so it was a lonely grind back up the drag again to catch a pair of backmarkers and tow them round for the remaining laps.

On the final lap passed Tim heading back to HQ - don't know what happened but after the race another rider came up and said "where's that other lad from Clifton? I wanted to apologise..." so there's clearly a story there! Tim?

Phil
Same problem here other night.After training other night felt a little rough but shrugged it off.At Walkington felt a tad coughy to start then when we went i too was breathing out of every place possible tooCouldnt keep my HR under 160 never mind over it..So i nearly jacked after one lap but stuck in thgere.Stopped on last lap after getting caught by scratch group feeling terrible.Have not touched bike since but feeling ok today.Had a near crash on descent in the race with said rider but dont know if it was my fault.Just racing really.Words said but friends again after holding hands! Where were you racing today Phil?Hope it went better than Walkington.Not my greatest race either. cheers Tim

Proof, if proof were needed, that just over the Humber the Lincs League races TLIs round Ingham (still does):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liI5DUau2QM

Quite the most mesmerisingly boring race video I think I've ever seen! Is it the leaden Lincs skies? Or the long featureless Lincs roads? Not sure, but bang on 3mins a monstrous blue arse heaves into view to provide light relief. It's what youtube was invented for. (hopefully nobody was wearing a helmet cam at the Yorkshire TLIs, or...)

You can tell it's the first group off - despite the straightest roads in the history of straight roads, they still can't string a paceline together. Shame they didn't get caught on the first lap - it would have livened it up a bit....

After a phone call to the series organiser to check for spare capacity, I headed out to Burton Fleming for the fifth in the EYRRL series last night. Gloriously sunny on the way over, but followed by the dark clouds which drenched York...

As a result of my dire performance at the last of these which I rode, handicapper Jim had put me in the first group off. This turned out to be me, another old fella and a worryingly fit looking lass. The first drops of rain signalled the start and we headed off for the first of three laps of the 10 mile circuit, with six minutes back to the second group and (I think) about ten back to the scratch group.

By about a quarter of the way round the old fella and I had shed the lass and slotted into a very smooth two-up, just shy of flat out since we wanted a bit left when, as we assumed we would, we got caught. As the rain hammered down, we flew through the end of lap one with no-one in sight, and lap two... ...and started to wonder if we'd stay away. Not to be, sadly, as we got caught by the fastest bunch about halfway round the last lap. I jumped in with them and still had enough in my legs to stay there until the finish, where a very wobbly sprint meant I played safe and crossed the line about 20th.

Good fun, despite the soaking.A drive home into a fantastic sunset, and saw a white owl hunting above the roadside. Should be spaces in the next one in a fortnight, if anyone fancies it.

I went over to Etton for the sixth of the EYRRL races last night. An evening when it looked pretty certain we'd get engulfed in torrential rain, but thankfully despite a light spattering it stayed dry with pleasant evening sun. I got sent off in the first group and after some typically chaotic Group-one-style riding half a dozen of us settled into steady progress, eventually getting caught by the second group on the third of seven laps. A bit of shuffling and the newly-enlarged bunch of twenty-odd got reasonably organised, such that by the bell we still had about 400yds on the faster groups. A serious upping of the pace kept us out of reach, and although the group split up on the final climb and I once again got cramp, I managed to hang onto the front group and pick my way through the back of it for something like 10th/11th. Good fun.

Due to drop-outs I've now pre-entered the remaining two events, and it seems very likely that a phone call to the series organiser would get you an entry on the line if a couple of you fancy making some use of your TLI licence.

The seventh of the EYRRL events had good weather for a change - a brisk north-easterly but pretty much clear skies and evening sunshine. The Little Weighton circuit is interesting (very interesting in places - I nearly wiped out a fair chunk of the bunch years back by completely missing a fast left-hander) and there was a good turn-out - with Cam filling one of the remaining EOL places and putting Clifton presence in the second group off.

I went off in the first group. It quickly became clear that only five of the group of nearly twenty were doing any work, and after much grumbling four of us found ourselves clear on the second lap and started really shifting. Not enough though - the second group caught us as we crossed the line and towards the end of the third lap the scratch group were upon us, dragging along the remainder of the fast blokes. I settled into the now strung-out bunch up the finish drag past the bell, but someone let a gap open and I found myself in the second half. We hung a couple of hundred yards off the leading group for the remainder, so nil points but great fun. 1hr 16min at 272W. Last event in the series in two weeks.

To echo what Phil said...very enjoyable ride last night. I just about managed to hang onto the 1st half of the group when it split at end of penultimate lap . Couldn't muster much of a sprint at the finish however and finished about 16th...but happy nonetheless.

Phil and I did the final race in the EYRRL series over on the Walkington circuit - the one with the long, long drag up the B1230. A respectful minutes silence was held before the start for a rider (I am ashamed to say I have forgotten his name) who died following a collision with a deer last week. Mood was lightened somewhat when one of the fast guys (and, I think, winner from the last race) from Group 5 was doing wheelies on a mountain bike which he apprently intended to use in the race (now that's what I call handicapping!). Not sure if he did actually use it but once Groups 1,2 and 3 merged we managed to stay away from the fast men. I had the usual dilemma - about how much work you do in these groups to contribute, without overdoing it so you are knackered when you get caught...but, as I say, we weren't caught, so no massive surge in pace near the end. Boiled down to an uphill sprint in end. I was poorly psitioned really but one of my better sprints in terms of effort, managing about 13th and finishing fairly strongly. Phil was impeded by riders electing to sit up on the run in, but managed 20th..

As per Cam's posting, we were there for the last of this year's EYRRL races. I was off in the first group and I tell you, they were much worse at neat group riding than last Saturday's group, getting caught by the fast-moving 2nd and 3rd group halfway round the second of four laps. Things moved a bit faster after that, but I was comfortable enough in the bunch until it shaped up into the full-width-of-the-road "crash waiting to happen" on the run-in to the finish. No dramas thankfully, but I was further back than Cam when the sprint started, rolling in twenty-somethingth.

Another good series this year. Well-marshalled, good basic organisation and good handicapping by Jim Sampson - a thankless task. A really good way into racing for newcomers; can we get that local league up and running next year?