So this is what it’s all about.
This is the Tour de France fantasy. It has everything, big bunches, climbs, descents, motorbikes, support cars (though thankfully none from a certain French TV network), and sunshine. This is the reason I trained all winter, for that moment when the race starts off behind the commisaires car and the bikes hurtle down the road…
As you might have guessed , I finally took part in my first proper road race…and I absolutely loved it!
The BRC were well represented, with four of us lined up at the start. As usual Myself, Matt and Stuart had come down from Bristol in Stu’s car. Race HQ was situated in the small and pretty Devonshire village of Blackawton, where we were joined Matt B.
The race itself was due to start at 10 am which made it a very early start considering it that it was a two hour drive and the clocks had gone forward overnight. Unsurprisingly there were a few blearly eyes wandering around race HQ (aka the local primary school). The car park was quickly filling up with serious looking riders on some very serious looking bikes, pre race nerves started to kick in. Although the race was for 3rd and 4th cat riders, it had a daunting feel about it, compounded by the race profile and the very hilly route into the village. I could feel my legs twitching in anticipation of what was to come.
Race Profile
The pre race briefing was fairly straight forward; a short description of the route and its hazards, as well as the sort of warnings you would expect… Don’t ride in the opposite lane, don’t swear, behave, don’t crash etc etc. However, it was during the briefing that I made my key mistake of the day. It didnt occur to me to ask where the finish line was. So I set off on a 2hour, 41 mile race with absolutely no idea where it ended.
We rolled out of the village, up a short climb and out onto the road where the race proper was due to start. A short delay and some nervous jokes later, off we went. I’ve left it a bit late to write up this race so to be honest most of it is already lost into the grey matter of my brain…Only a few segments remain, as they’ve been playing on a loop in my head ever since. As far as i can remember though, the race started at a reasonably high speed along a ridge, before dropping down a quickish descent and throwing us straight into the first hills of the race.
Apparently the 70-80 strong field started to thin out almost instantly, with some riders going out the back on the first hill. I had that horrible feeling that i might be one of them, but had positioned myself at the sharp end of the race and once my legs warmed up was feeling fine. Matt’s race was over before the frist climb as he’d lost his chain on the descent and was stuck chasing with little help from anyone else.
Matt chasing hard
The race continued to roll on at a decent pace. I was comfortable on the climbs and staying out of harms way on the flats. The only parts of the course that gave me any trouble were the roundabouts at each end as I had to sprint a bit harder than i thought to stay well positioned in the bunch coming out of them.
As the race went on, a few guys tried to get away for varying lengths of time. Stuart was one of them, chasing a solo break and staying out with him for a decent period before seeing the hills looming and choosing discretion over valor. Whilst Stuart was off the front, I sat second wheel behind a Bristol South rider who despite turning round and gesturing for help could see that he was going to get very little from me. Matt B had shouted at me to go with Stuart but i knew I wouldnt have been able to hold a break out for the 30 miles of the race that remained, so i tried to slow down the race for Stuart instead. Once the Bristol South rider swung off I sat on the front turning a little gear until it was clear that Stuart want going to stay away, then me and Matt B moved back deeper into the bunch to wait for a better opportunity to try something.
The race was pretty uneventful from then on. With about 5 miles to go, a few riders had gained a good gap and were pushing hard, but it didnt last and they were brought back just before the final roundabout and U turn. At this point you could hear a lot of guys in the bunch asking where the finish was. We knew it was somewhere along that straight, but weren’t sure exactly where. I thought it must be soon.
I was sitting maybe a third of the way down the bunch at this point, with Matt B and Stuart maybe 5-6 riders ahead of me. It was clear that if I wanted to get anything out of the race I needed to be further up the bunch so I moved up behind Matt. He turned around slightly, acknowledging me on his wheel. The bunch had been massivly whittled down from the full field, so clearly people were suffering. Matt didnt look like he was having fun…but with me tucked safely in his wheel, he powered around the outside of the bunch, dropped me off at the front and said I was ‘on my own’ (so i was later told). I cannot thank Matt enough for that move, he did an amazing job putting me at the front and I cant help but feel as though I let him down a bit with what came next.
Suddenly on the front again I stood up on the pedals to stretch my legs and then I was sprinting up the hill off the front of the bunch. I’d said to Stu the day before that if I was still up there at the end of the race then I would go on the last climb and try to hang on for the win. So that’s exactly what I did… apart from the winning bit.
It very quickly dawned on me that the finish was not where I had hoped it was and that I was in a position to make a tough decision..drop back to the bunch and wait for the sprint or try and sustain the momentum to the line.. I opted for the latter. However, the line still was not appearing and I could feel my legs tiring. I looked behind and saw that the bunch had splintered trying to chase, with one mid Devon rider dragging me back and another group behind him. After what seemed to me age but to everyone else barely a minute, he caught me. Now there were two, and still the finishing line wasnt appearing. At this point I wasnt thinking clearly, the other rider was letting me do the majority of the work and he cruelly let slip that the finish line was still ‘ages away’. I just kept pushing the biggest gear I could manage, as fast as I could, praying that the finish would come, whilst worried that the guy on my wheel would jump me at the finish. Fortunatly he didnt have to as the second group on the road had now caught us and my legs were well and truly blown.
I sat in with the group as we approached another small rise, where I tried to kick clear again but just didn’t have the power. I sat back down in the saddle and crested the top of the hill…catching a glimpse of the finish as I did. I’ wasnt the only one, just as I was shrinking into my saddle, the other guys leapt out of theirs and started to sprint for the line. There was nothing I could do, i’d given it my all and rolled angrilly over the finish in 7th, 2 seconds up on the bunch.
Lesson learned, always check out the course before hand.
Despite the mistake, I feel like I took a lot of out the race, plus it had been so much fun! Great weather, course, scenery, organisation, everything. Well done and thankyou to all those involved in putting the race on.
ifonlyiwerebelgian 