So my 4 month summer has now begun and its time to complete all of my goals for the year. My season is still a work in progress at the moment but I am now back home with a lot of races to enter and more importantly win.
Just a quick update of June so far. It started with the Eric Buddolph RR which involved an interesting (3000ft of climbing) ride out and an OK race. I still don't have the power I would like to bridge across gaps and therefore I made it half way across to the break before my legs gave up. This left me around 15th in the results although I am still awaiting confirmation.
The master plan for my weekend coming back was a lift back from Sheffield on the Saturday, call in at Elvedon on the way back, win it and get back in time to to see my mates. Alas a lack of turbo on my dad's trusty van meant I turned up just in time to see the bunch role past 2 laps in which was not ideal. I forgave him eventually and turned my attention to the Ipswich Cycle Series race that was the day after.
Sunday came and I made sure I was there in time to see one of my old team mates Mark cruise to victory in the 3/4. With just 12 riders signed on in my race I was fairly confident of my first top ten of the year and some points. The legs felt good and I was able to cover any attacks that were made. It came down to a sprint which I usually enjoy unfortunately the rider in front of me rolled his tire off on the final corner leaving me with 7th overall.
The second race in the series came on the Wednesday after but this time the race was handicapped so 4th & 3rd cats were given a head start. In wet conditions we set about chasing down the groups and caught them with 2 laps remaining after a few twitchy moments in the corners. I knew the finish was going to be dangerous as there was a tight right-hand corner on slick roads 100m before the finish. After a bit of a battle I sat third wheel before the corner and the two riders in front both fell on the corner. I felt my back wheel going and was able to hold it finishing 3rd in the end. I am still trying to work out how I didn't win but a top 3 was a good result and something to build on for the rest of the series.
Next for me is the 125mile 'Circuit of the Fens RR' on Sunday which will be a good test to see if all those winter miles have paid off.
