Promoted by Litchfield CC
E/1/2/3
60 mins + 5 Laps
Its been a good 2 years since i have done a proper town centre crit. The last one i did was the Warwick Town Centre races on 2008 when i still a 4th cat, It was good race as i had managed to break away with one other rider and pretty much lap the rest of the filed but on the bell lap as we came in to the first corner i got put in to the barrier by a lapped rider and couldn't finish due to the damage to my bike. This was the last time i raced this kind of race as there just arn't that many of them around and in general, its not really the kind of race which plays to my physical strengths although i can do well in these kind of races due to my cornering ability. I can make the courses a lot less stressful on my legs due being able to hit corners and hold my speed as i exit which means that i haven't got to sprint back up to speed. If you think how many corners there are in a typical 60 min Crit race, this amounts to a lot of saved energy.
I hadn't planned to race the Litchfield races even though they had been well advertised over the last few weeks, it was only when Tony told me that he was going to do them that i decided i would head down with him and give it a crack. Our race, the E/1/2/3, was due to start a 4.00pm so in the morning of the race i headed out first thing on my bike to spin the legs and make sure all was ok with my race machine. I then had a few hours to kill before Tony came round to pick me up at 1.30pm. Soon enough he did arrive and we began loading up the car with all the kit, as we did this i thought to myself how strange it is that you end up taking more kit to an hour long race than you do for a 3 hour race; Bike, wheels, spare wheels, clothes, spare clothes, Rollers, Turbo etc etc, just so much bloody kit for such a short race.
When we got the Litchfield the heavens opened with our arrival so we ended up doing our course reconnaissance in the driving rain which didn't help our confidence at all. The course was typical crit style with many tight corners, about 1km long and had quite a few cobbled section. Oh and of course it also had the typical course barriers with the big metal legs sticking out about a foot on to the course. Love it!!
45 minutes before the race we broke out the rollers and began warming up. To many riders don't appreciate how vital a good warm up is before a crit, the races start so fast and if your legs arnt ready to work then your race can be over before the end of the first lap. I have a warm up routine which i have used for a while and works every time, not only does it prepare my legs but it also prepares my mind for the hard efforts to come so it results in me being much more relaxed as i head to the start.
On the start line i was in the second row so had a pretty good starting position but in typical Dan Bill style it took me an age to get clipped in so come the first corner i was 2nd from last. Not a good start. After the first lap the race was already beginning to split and i was stuck at the back, is started making my way up through the field, taking riders on the straights and then using my cornering ability to close down the next group and so on. It was very frustrating when i did catch a group as i was always so much faster through the corners that riders just ended up slowing me down so i had to really try and pick the right times to make my passing moves. Soon enough i was the the front of the 2nd group which was basically a chasing group as the big boys had already broke clear and were a good 40 seconds up the road. I kept driving the pace hard making sure that i never fell back further than 3rd rider from the front. The reason for this is simple, the closer you are to front of a group, the less the conseteener effect from riders braking in to corners effect you, meaning that the less of a sprinting effort i have to make on the exit. By keeping the pace intense for a good 20 Min's we had managed to whittle out group down to about 5, the front group of about 8 had also split in to 2 groups and at just over the half way point the leading 3 riders which contained 2 Corley Cycles riders and Will Penn from Mammoth had managed to lap the field. As the y cam round our group i was on the front and so i did what most would do, i latched on and held the wheels for as long as i could!
To my surprise i actually had no problems matching there pace, in fact for me it was easier following the elite boys as they could corner as well as i could so when on there wheels the whole lap was much more consistent and flowed much better. Soon we also began lapping other groups, including the group containing Tony Kiss and his friend Steve, a National level track rider riding for Litchfield. With 5 laps to go lapped riders began to get pulled out and our group of 5 were instructed to drop of the leading 3 in order to allow them to contest there own race. I settled at the back of our group in order to watch the moves and conserve energy ready for the last lap dash. On the bell lap i began moving up and was in 4th as we came in to the penultimate turn, the rider in front was unfortunately not to good at cornering and i entered the corner with more speed than him i soon realised i was about the hit his back wheel as he slowed so much. This forced me to try and change my line mid corner which meant shifting my weight, as i did the front wheel lifted and that as they say was they end of that. SMASH!!!!!!!
Yep, just like in 2008 at Warwick i hit the deck on the last lap. I was ok other than some nasty gashes to my left leg. The marshals lifted my bike over the barrier but i realised that i could still be well with in the top 15 as we had such a big lead over the groups behind. I asked for my bike back and began to ride towards the finish but realised the bike was un-ridable. I then proceeded to remove my brand new Sidi shoes and held these in one had, grabbed the bike with the other and ran the last few hunded meters in nothing more that my blood stained, bright yellow Mavic sock and crossed the line to a hero's welcome (kind of).
So, was i disappointed? well no, not really. I was very happy with how i had ridden, i proved i was strong and i proved i was capable of matching the pace of the leaders. Its just that next time i need to make sure that get a better start and am up at the front on the first lap and not working my way up from the back. The Corley boys ended up taking a 1-2 with Will coming in for a well deserved 3rd. I still have no idea where i came but will let you know as soon as i do.The Tour of the Wrekin is next on my race calendar so keep a look out for that report.
Dan
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