Clifton CC Discussion Board

The place to discuss racing and training.

Moderator: Moderators

by RichardD Wed Apr 30, 2014 11:01 am
Largish Clifton contingent at the 1st Chevin race of the year. These are handicapped with 1 min between 4, 3, 2, and 30s to the 1,E group. At least in theory. There was some confusion at the start which meant the 4ths started before the organisers were ready and were required to wait after their first lap. I was in the 3rds with Damien, John and Tim and the whole group worked generally very well. The pace was fast averaging over 27 mph for the six laps and it was a good workout on the front. Good job, as we finished almost in the dark. At that pace nobody was going to get away and we managed to stay away from the later groups and contest for the win. John got some points we think. The rest of us were up there but no cigars. Roll on thursday for NYRRL 1.
by GrahamMartin Wed Apr 30, 2014 12:29 pm
I was marshalling, and the confusion would have been funny if it weren't for the lack of daylight. There was at least one other screw-up I was aware of, with a member of the scratch group going off in the group ahead, and thus reducing the firepower - the 3 were losing time, not gaining it, at one point. Oh well, I'll be racing next week - here's hoping it all goes a lot more smoothly.

Talking of which - anyone able to give me a lift out or more importantly, back, next week?
by DamianE Wed Apr 30, 2014 2:47 pm
Yes, bit of a shambles to get going but once up and running the 3rd cat group was strangely in harmony for the greater good I.e. Staying away. It was 2 very long lines of guys (and a girl I noticed) going at 28/29/30 when not going round bends or over railways.

If the finish had been 200m closer I think I was 2nd but as it was, come the finish line I was nowhere. A case of over estimating my ability to hold the pace and not doing any sprint training I suppose.

Hey ho, getting fitter, onwards and upwards.
by nigelt Wed Apr 30, 2014 3:13 pm
Confusion reigned! We signed on last night and after some discussion it was decided that we should all head for the start to be briefed and have our handicapped start. After the entire field had warmed up and got to the start we were then told we had to return to HQ for our briefing :(

Back at HQ we were told that the groups would be rolled out to the start with minute gaps between, that the start would be a 'rolling start' and that once we crossed the start the race was on- at least that's what I (and most of the 4th Cat field) heard, so that's what we did. We crossed the line and off we went.

After just over half a lap with around 5 of us working at driving the group the motorcycle marshall told us to sit up and head back for the start as we had set off too soon. You can imagine how pleased we were at this news :x

Back at the start line we had to sit and wait for several minutes until the 3rd cat group came into view and then we set off again. A fast two laps (i have them around 26.5 mph) followed with some attempts at organisation which didn't work too well. On the third lap we were caught by the 3rd cats and the speed ramped up further. The 3rd cats were clearly better organised than us and kept the pace high. Too high for me as it turned out, and i got shelled out of the back at the end of the third lap.

Did a 2-up for a further 2 laps then sat up and waited for the gallop to the line .

Bit miffed to have been dropped but I was on my limit for most of the third lap despite being in the group, so it was only a matter of time.

A good workout though, and even with the 2 slower laps I averaged 24mph.

Good to see lots of Clifton jerseys in there at the end, and John looked strong in the sprint.
by JohnS Thu May 01, 2014 1:32 pm
I think everyone has covered this pretty well already. Great to get the evening races going again despite the slightly chaotic nature of the start.

Once we got going the group wnt off like a bullet! Remember glancing down at my garmin just after we started to see we're rocking along at 30mph+ :shock:

Having said that the whole group worked from the off. Having ridden this last year in the 4th cat group when at best half the group worked, it was great to see and a pleasure to ride. Got a little less organised when we caught the 4ths but only to be expected and the pace was kept up.

On the last lap I think everyone realised we were going to stay away and it got a little more tactical. Out of the last corner I wasn't well positioned and going wide lost a few lengths. There was what looked like a pretty big group sprinting ahead of me and I thought I'd lost it. A guy came past me and I jumped into his slip stream, changed down and went for it. Went past him just as he moved into my line. Had a clash of elbows but kept strong. At this point I realised the group in front were all dying and I seemed to be going past twice as fast. Hit the line and a quick head count only saw 6 in front of me. Actually missed out on 7th by a tyre width but claimed 8th and a couple of points which I was delighted with.

Looking forward to Sheriff Hutton tonight and just hoping the rain holds off.

John
by PhilBixby Thu May 01, 2014 8:12 pm
Like Nigel, I was in the much-messed-around first group off. By the time we'd finished our lengthy wait for the second group to appear I'd pretty much lost any sense of focus, which to be frank had been tenuous at best after a problematic spell in my day job. I got shelled out the back slightly earlier on the third lap; the second group were really motoring and the first group had contained a really wide mix of abilities and little knowledge of how to ride as a group. Likewise did a bit of two-up for a while before jumping off at the bell and standing well back as the sprint approached. Full marks to John, RichD, Damian and Tim - that was a really good ride.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests

cron