No 13 — unlucky for some —British Cycling National Trophy 2010 Round 1, originally uploaded by Dave Haygarth.
I'm pleased to say I achieved both those goals in the first National Trophy at Abergavenny, finishing in 30th position, 6mins and 47secs behind the winner Paul Oldham. That's a big time gap, but crucially, it was less than a lap.
Racing at this level is so much harder than local league stuff and every corner, ever straight and everything in between is a battleground where you're either trying to overtake or being overtaken. It's brutal, but so much fun. I had a good first lap: starting from sixth row on the grid, I narrowly avoided a start straight pile-up that brought down Nick Craig, and moved up a load of positions by being an absolute git on the first few corners. By the end of lap one I was toast though and it took me another two or three laps to recover, by which time I'd lost another few places. I then set about reeling people in, eventually catching the guy who was in 30th at the bell. I didn't know where I was at the time, so I just buried myself trying to catch the next rider, 10secs ahead.
I crossed the line more exhausted than I've been all season, a good workout. I only found out the result this morning — a great start to a Monday. Top 30 is important as that is where you start getting points, and points mean a better gridding position next time. So instead of starting on the sixth row, I should be on the fourth row, making that first lap slightly easier, meaning I won't have to go so deep into the red, meaning I'll be able to maintain the effort for longer. That's the theory at least. Roll on Ipswich and round two, I can't wait!
Both photos here are by Dave Haygarth who has moved up to the Vets this year — I'm pleased as it means he's stopped beating me, and started getting some great photos of me racing. There are more on ukcyclocross.com
2 comments:
Great result Andy. That top 30 is a great ride in the circumstances and it's a just reward for all the hard work not to get lapped. More to come.
Hope so! I'd love to come top 20 one day, maybe at Nationals, we can but dream...
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