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Did the Crosstrax 2/3/4 race on Sunday on the Saxton circuit along with John S. Very, very lucky with the weather. Forecast was dreadful for the morning but the rain held off until the point when I was driving off at the end of the race..ha,ha! Still windy though and headwind on the road up to and beyond the Crooked Billet. It was this stretch of road that shaped the race really. It was very cagey at first but a largish break did get away followed by another minibreak (!?)...sounds like a w/e in Cleethorpes….So hard to keep tabs on how many up the road but with points going down to 15 I reckoned there was still something in there worth fighting for. Managed to force a move myself …again on the Crooked Billet road and was joined by 5 others. We were able to distance what was left of the bunch…Quite a few drop outs I think…We all had time to think about the run-in on the last lap. One chap declared that he was not going to contest the sprint…very charitable I thought. I was hoping that at least 4 others would pipe up saying the same but things became a little quiet. We had the ‘Pocket Rocket’ (Giles Pidcock) in our midst and I knew that he wasn’t going to throw the towel in…In the end I was 4th in our sprint…The sheer explosiveness of Mr P is something else! Really, I should have tried something from further out...hindsight is beautiful thing . 16th overall in the end so... nil point. Reasonably satisfied though. Not sure how my legs were going to be after returning from holiday 2 weeks ago. Managed to get a bit of cycling done when away but came back ‘carrying a bit of timber’…Turkish beer and chocolate Magnums to blame. My legs were completely battered after the race though. Good, tough circuit at Saxton – pot hole free and felt safe.

I joined Cam on Sunday for 11 laps of the Saxton circuit. Had a bit of trepidation as last time I raced at Saxton in the Chevin series 7 laps was more than enough.

Big field of 70 to start but the rain held off but it was very windy. Pleased it started off pretty steady, although with the neutralised section straight up the hill being dropped on the neutralised stage was a distinct possibility if you weren't paying attention,

A few early attacks livened things up and we settled into a decent rythem hard up the climbs, and then slow through the finishing straight. At times we were only doing 15mph here but into the wind it was incredibly hard, and no-one really wanted to drive the bunch here.

I felt okay and was comfortably mid-pack half way through. The eventual winner Nathan Wilson had gone off and then another group nipped off the front. I consistently over estimate the size of a break and thought that with a group up the road we were simply racing for pride at this point.

With about 3 or 4 laps to go Cam road off the front into the headwind as no-one else wanted to work at the front. I should have gone with him but was still worried about the cumulative effect of 3 climbs per lap. I'd felt a twinge of cramp on one of the climbs last lap. A few others were braver than me and Cam and a little group disappeared up the road. A couple of late moves tried to catch them and that sparked a response and we were back racing.

At this point it became clear that the pack had taken a massive amount of attrition. On the last lap I was in a group of about 8 or so. Well placed in 3rd position on the run into the finish line I didn't jump soon enough and suddenly everyone was sprinting past me.

Finished just outside the top 20 and in the group just behind Cam.

Pleased to finish what was a real battle of attrition. At least half the field packed and some good riders were finishing in ones and twos behind me.

No points but a good mornings racing, and the rain held off! Saxton's a really good testing course, and I hope for more races here next year.

Looking forward to Doncster on Sunday.

John

Sounds like you both had good rides.

I've only ridden the course a couple of times but it seems to be testing to say the least. We should really substitute our Thursday night Wheldrake race for this circuit. Is this possible and what do people think?

Cheers

Martin