This weeks racing saw Denis and Dave heading down to Martley for the cat 3/4 Wyre Forest CRC Spring Road Race. The race promised a flat course and as we drove through a rolling terrain we started to doubt that claim. Amazingly, they must have managed to find the only flat 7 miles in Worcestershire to send us round 7 times.
A damp start with dark clouds didn’t look promising to deliver the pleasant race conditions that had been forecast. As the 80 riders stood for the briefing the start of some more rain made it look even less likely. From the Martley Sports Centre we had a neutralised roll out to the race circuit by which time the promise of dry weather had materialised and the roads were starting to dry out.
The 7 mile lap basically consisted of 4 left hand turns covering minor roads with only a couple of lumps for the group to get up. This led to some fast racing with no real breaks managing to stick. A couple of attempts kept the pace high and for a few laps 2 riders managed to get 30 seconds up the road but were caught before the last lap.
Dave’s first road race of the year and only 2nd road race ever meant the objective was to still be able to see the front at the finish. The 27mph first lap meant this wasn’t to be – after 2 laps his legs said no more and he lost touch with the back of the group. He put in a bit of TT practice for the next 3 laps before pulling over to watch the finish. However, even though not there at the end it was still enjoyable to pin on a number and take a little bit from the fact that only five cat4 racers finished with the bunch.
Denis’ first road race of the year was about getting some race rhythm back in the legs. After making a few unsuccessful attempts to go clear mid-race, he spent the last couple of laps refilling the legs and positioning himself for the finish. Turning the last corner in the top 10, he sprinted to 7th overall
RLSCC managed to get a bigger turn out with 6 racers and we had an enjoyable chat with them as we rode back to the Sports Centre for refreshments and cake! All in, a great morning of local racing on a nice course, looking forward to more racing with club mates this year.
Author: Dave Mills and Denis Gorman
Date: 16th April 2023
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