Teammates: none
Result: 40 of 56 (but intact!)
The unofficial first race of the season was a crashfest. Nice. I was forewarned though from friends & teammates in the earlier races. Those of you who think it may be safer in the higher cats due to better bike handling are in for disappointment. The speed’s faster, the gambling’s riskier, and the road hits back harder. (Ok, I may’ve made up the last one.)
Ok, ok… Back to the race.
At the starting line, I made out some familiar faces and marked anyone who looked too relaxed. After instructions etc., we were off like cattle being prodded into a narrow corridor aka the downhill corner… only to be greeted by a stiff headwind. Bunched up again only to navigate small allowances that went left, left, twisty left to right up the hill aided by a small tailwind (which sucks if you arent a sprinter, I aint one). 180 hairpin at the top forces everyone to slow up then gun down the hill. Rinse and repeat for several laps (throw in two squirrely crashes for a good measure just to wade off boredom).
With two to go, the pack revs up last corner before the hill. Now- it’s on. Being in the back gives me a nice view of the race however it can suck when someone crashes in front of you. “oh (bleep)” I swerved to the curb “oh holy (bleep)”, missd it and didnt have to hop it (saves time on truing the wheels later) and just chased to make the gap that the crash caused. The break in front materialized then de-materialized in front of me (read: I missed the break). Oh well- at least I got a workout in. Sort of.
-Rory
Garry
Rory
Nice report, thanks for writing.