by AndyM
Sun Mar 23, 2014 7:35 pm
Two races for me this weekend.
The first was a 2/3/4 Cat circuit race on the Forge Valley circuit in Sheffield - similar to the York track, albeit a bit tighter and narrower. Only 16 riders signed up for the start in what were pretty grim conditions, with the racers in the Youth. 3rd/4th and Women's races getting a bit wet and more rain forecast for ours. As predicted we got a drenching, with the race originally advertised as 50 mins, the commissaire and organiser chose to shorten it to 40 mins before the start, and to just 30 mins half way through as the rain bucketed its way down. Found myself in a bad position at the back for the first couple of laps but luckily managed to move up. 4 or 5 of us made fairly constant attempts at breaking away and this thinned the field further to maybe 10 or so riders. With about 12-15 laps to go a friend of mine from uni managed to get away solo, and after several attempts from 3 or 4 of us to jump clear as well, I managed to also get away by myself with about 5 laps to go. Somehow managed to chase down my friend with 1 to go, and he looked in a pretty bad way due to the cold. Several of the riders were suffering with mild hypothermia, or at least were certainly very cold, at the end of the race, the winner included, so it was lucky the organisers shortened it really.Tried to drop him in the final lap and nearly did so, but he managed to stay with me and sneaked through on the inside for the final corner and I couldn't quite get past him in the sprint, so he beat me by maybe half a bike length. So 2nd in my second race of the year! Well chuffed to get some points on the board
358W NP for the 31minute race.
Today was the annual Varsity TT - a contest between Uni of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam Uni. 12 miles and 800ft of climbing in the Peak District provides a testing course. The forecast was horrendous for this, with thunder storms and heavy rain to be expected. We were incredibly fortunate to only get a short hail shower as the first riders set off, but the wind still made it fairly cold in the exposed start area. I finished feeling I could have pushed on a bit more for the second half of the race. I came 6th in a time of 31:03, 4 seconds behind 5th place, and 45 seconds behind 4th, with the winner posting a time of 29:49. 323W NP. A strong showing from Uni of Sheffield saw us fill the first 8 places and 12 of the top 13, meaning we won the team contest on the day.
Although they were only short races, I enjoyed it. A great weekend of racing
A big well done must go to Greg and Fi for their great results in the Bolsover & District TT that Greg posted about in the other thread!
The first was a 2/3/4 Cat circuit race on the Forge Valley circuit in Sheffield - similar to the York track, albeit a bit tighter and narrower. Only 16 riders signed up for the start in what were pretty grim conditions, with the racers in the Youth. 3rd/4th and Women's races getting a bit wet and more rain forecast for ours. As predicted we got a drenching, with the race originally advertised as 50 mins, the commissaire and organiser chose to shorten it to 40 mins before the start, and to just 30 mins half way through as the rain bucketed its way down. Found myself in a bad position at the back for the first couple of laps but luckily managed to move up. 4 or 5 of us made fairly constant attempts at breaking away and this thinned the field further to maybe 10 or so riders. With about 12-15 laps to go a friend of mine from uni managed to get away solo, and after several attempts from 3 or 4 of us to jump clear as well, I managed to also get away by myself with about 5 laps to go. Somehow managed to chase down my friend with 1 to go, and he looked in a pretty bad way due to the cold. Several of the riders were suffering with mild hypothermia, or at least were certainly very cold, at the end of the race, the winner included, so it was lucky the organisers shortened it really.Tried to drop him in the final lap and nearly did so, but he managed to stay with me and sneaked through on the inside for the final corner and I couldn't quite get past him in the sprint, so he beat me by maybe half a bike length. So 2nd in my second race of the year! Well chuffed to get some points on the board
358W NP for the 31minute race. Today was the annual Varsity TT - a contest between Uni of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam Uni. 12 miles and 800ft of climbing in the Peak District provides a testing course. The forecast was horrendous for this, with thunder storms and heavy rain to be expected. We were incredibly fortunate to only get a short hail shower as the first riders set off, but the wind still made it fairly cold in the exposed start area. I finished feeling I could have pushed on a bit more for the second half of the race. I came 6th in a time of 31:03, 4 seconds behind 5th place, and 45 seconds behind 4th, with the winner posting a time of 29:49. 323W NP. A strong showing from Uni of Sheffield saw us fill the first 8 places and 12 of the top 13, meaning we won the team contest on the day.
Although they were only short races, I enjoyed it. A great weekend of racing
A big well done must go to Greg and Fi for their great results in the Bolsover & District TT that Greg posted about in the other thread!
