I was in the thick of the action for the whole race, attacking alone after five (of 35) laps, riding solo for three laps, then together with two others for a further eight or so. When we got caught, rather than sulking at the back
and conning myself that it was "recovery", I kept on attacking. Eventually I got away with 10 laps to go, followed by one other rider. This time the elastic snapped and the bunch let us go. With a lap and a half to go my calf muscles started cramping painfully up the climb, so I knew the sprint would be tough, and so it proved. I got stuck on the front for the last 500m -tactical naivety having not been in this position for a while - and when the other guy jumped me with 200m to go he really got a good jump on me.
I got close to reeling him in, but never got on terms so had to settle for second, too tired to be disappointed.
I'm sure the "what-if's" will start tormenting me in the next few days, but for the time being, I'm pretty chuffed. All bodes well for the cyclocross season at least.
The race before mine was a master's and women's race, of which I shot a bunch of photos. The set is on flickr here. Martin Smith from the Army and AW Cycles won with an impressive, almost race long, solo break - a tough option on a windy day on an exposed circuit.
1 comment:
Hard luck mate. I've been in similar positions before and whilst you feel like you did the best you can to finish right up there, you pull yourself to bits and try to work out what you'd do differently next time. If it's any consolation, I've screwed up almost every sprint I've ever been in from a small break like that.
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