I had a position midway up the bunch for the first few laps, trying to conserve energy. But after rubbing hands with the guy next to me it was quickly abandoned in favour of one closer to the front. It was a pretty nervy race yesterday, a lot of swerving, and shouts of 'hold your bloody line!'. I like to stick to the inside of the course, that way I know where my line is.
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| I held a good position for most of the race, James on my left came second overall. |
I was able to hold my position in the bunch fairly well throughout, and stayed within the front ten most of the way round. Then (near) disaster struck, as we approached the bell lap one of the riders to my right swerved suddenly towards me. Our handlebars locked and for what felt like minutes we were jostling around trying not to fall, my front wheel came up and I thought 'this is it, your first ever crash, you're going down Wilf. Prepare yourself'. I'm not sure how, but I managed to stay upright. It did mean I lost a lot of places though, and I think several guys behind had to brake hard, one guy went into the grass and had to abandon the race with just a lap to go. I didn't manage to make my way back to the front on the last lap, and although I must have gained about twenty places in the sprint I was too far back to be in contention.
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| The Milton Keynes Bowl, courtesy of Google. |
James Barlow, who also rides for LBRCC placed second overall, despite his claims of 'not feeling too good'. And good races were run from the other LBRCC guys: Neil and Gareth, who handled my little tussle well, skilfully avoiding running into the back of me, I'm very grateful for that!
In the end I was glad that both me and my bike were unharmed, if a little shaken up. As for losing my position, there's always next time.
Strava profile for the race.
*After the hiccups of Wednesday and yesterday, I've decided to write out a race day list which is pinned to my bag. Never again shall I forget!
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