The weekend saw the return of the Warwick Town Centre Races after a 4 year gap. This local event features a whole range of bike races, from super-competitive professionals to children’s races and Brompton races. Kev and Dave had entered the cat 4 only race, with Denis entering the cat 3/4. With a race taking place within a mile of our usual meeting point on a lovely sunny Sunday it seemed rude not to be joining in the fun.
The course is a twisty 900m lap around Warwick town centre, taking in highlights such as a historic church, the market square, and Wetherspoons (thankfully open before 10am on a Sunday, no portaloos today!). In the cat 4 race, the 20 entrants compete for 25 minutes and in the 3/4 race they compete for 45 minutes.
David’s race
After a short warm up, I headed into town for a very reasonable (supporter’s view) 10am start and chatted to Kev along with some of the competitors. The town centre made for buzzing environment as everyone got warmed up, had extra coffee and talked about how un-prepared they were!
During the first lap, the field spread into 2 main groups. I managed to get into the first group, which turned out to be helpful as the twisty course left little scope for overtaking. I stayed with this group for around half of the race, before the field broke up into smaller groups and I spent the rest of the time slowly gaining on the WLRCC rider in front of me but probably needed another 5 laps to actually catch them. The course required significant concentration, and I was pleased to stay upright even having survived a couple of pedal strikes early on. 25 minutes felt like an eternity but I managed to keep the effort up and finished in 7th place overall, completing 17 laps with a surprisingly high average speed of 20.5mph around a tight and twisty course.
Having had the entire week with everyone warning me about the number of crashes and broken bones during previous races on the course I wasn’t exactly going in feeling confident. However, I thoroughly enjoyed racing around our local town centre, taking on a different type of racing and actually doing far better than I expected. It was an awesome atmosphere in the town center and great on a nice sunny day being able to grab a coffee and hang around watching the other races afterwards.
Kev’s race
Having gotten caught behind a near crash on the sighting lap I ended up right at the back at the start, wondering if there would be more substantial crashes in the actual race. The start whistle blew and I got going, making my way through the field faster than I expected. I got past about half of the field, but there was already a bit of a gap to the lead group as we headed into the first corner at what felt like a stupid speed.
Slightly shocked that we got through the bus station without the crunch of bikes hitting the floor I tried to chase down the front group. Irritatingly the gap ahead of me was just big enough to limit the draft and mean that I couldn’t quite get back on, with the gap growing by a metre or so every lap. A couple of laps in I looked over my shoulder to find I was entirely on my own, effectively in no man’s land between two groups, being chased by a chap from RLSCC and another from Stratford CC. As I was making no dent in the gap ahead I decided to ease off and allow myself to be caught.
The two behind caught me and I took a couple of laps in their draft to catch my breath, and we were also caught by another rider from Bromsgrove. Working together we were basically holding the gap to the riders in front but we just weren’t closing up, so I decided that I would focus on beating the riders I was with rather than worrying about catching anyone.
I realised that I could carry more speed round the corners than the others in my group so I put in an attack down Northgate Street and put all my faith in my tyres to get me round the corner to Barrack Street. The attack worked and I started the final lap with a small gap to the other three, so I just concentrated on throwing it round the remaining corners as fast as I dared. Fortunately I held my gap for the rest of the race, finishing 8th overall.
Having started the race thinking I was unfit and not really sure if I was up for it, I finished having had a fantastic time, pleased with my finish and wondering what might have been if I’d have been more attentive at the start and not been the wrong side of that gap!
Denis’ Race
Last time I did a crit, I was slow clipping in and spent the whole race trying to work my way back through the pack. I was adamant that I wouldn’t make the same mistake this time. Unfortunately, I got to the pen late, and so was near- last at the start, meaning I spent the first 2 laps sprinting every straight until I was into the front 4 or 5 riders. After a few lap to catch my breath, myself and one other rider got away for a while, but were pulled back by a group of around 10 riders.
Whilst in 2nd place, the rider in front of me almost crashed near Dough & Brew, and then DID crash at the last corner! A quick clip-out and step over the crashed rider, and I was back on my way, losing a few positions and gaining a few BPM. Around this time, 1 rider rode off into the sunset, whilst me and another rider set off in chase. I rode a long time on the front to drive us clear of the bunch, and was pretty cooked as we entered the last couple of laps. The rider I was with came by and rode hard enough through all the overtaking points to keep ahead of me, and I came home 3rd!
This was such a fun event – The course was fun, it was about as local as they get, and racing with supporters cheering you on is something that doesn’t happen often to Sunday punters! Definitely a race I’d recommend, and hope to do again
Authors: Dave Mills, Kev Lister, Denis Gorman
Date: 14th May 2023
Photos: Courtesy of Warwick Lantern Rouge Cycling Club
