January 2008 Results
Imperial Winter Series #11 - January 26th 2008
In the 4ths race, Paul Redman writes: "With the points in the bag, it would have been all too easy to have remained in bed, but being a chap who likes routine, order and structure; the lure of a Saturday morning outing to Hillingdon was too good to miss. It was mild but windy with the nice weather swelling the field so that to the untrained eye, there appeared to be forty or so riders on the line.
The plan was to use the race as training and if a last-corner dash was possible, then to give that a try, otherwise just roll home intact. The westerly wind made progress around the top of the circuit quite tricky and anyone who tried to make a break of it was hauled back. I myself gave it a big dig, taking Dave Ryan (Imperial Racing Team) with me, but our lead never amounted to much and we were back in the pack before too long.
A few laps later, it happened. With the series having been incident-free for so long (unheard of in 4th cat. territory), there was a pile-up on the small rise near the top of the circuit and the second consecutive week that riders and bicycles went separate ways. Certainly one chap was seriously injured given that for two or three laps, we were diverted around the crash scene.
At this point, I was about to be left behind by the thinned-out bunch, but the big thighs didn't let me down and I tagged back on again after three laps .... a fair few others hadn't been so lucky. Thoughts began to enter my head that avoiding crashes in races I technically don't need to enter would generally be a good idea. I continued to ride strongly in the bunch but when the bell lap came, I weighed up whether or not I should try to launch from the back .... and chose not to. I didn't chase after anyone, I ambled up the hill and freewheeled over the line.
The results listed me as 24th, although I appear to have been lumped in with all the lapped riders, stragglers and hangers-on. I thought about jumping up-and-down to complain, but as we're talking so low down the order and I didn't try very hard on the last lap, it's probably more than I deserve."
In the E/1/2/3 it was a bumper turnout, as expected given the spring like conditions on the day. Ian Lowe and Harry Bulstrode were on the line for the club - but with Ian's punishing training schedule during the week, it was unlikely that he would use this race for anything other than some top end workouts.
Harry on the other hand was on a mission as ever and featured well in the race. Two riders got away and the race for 3rd was a bunch sprint, with Harry brilliantly placed to grab 4th on the line for 6th in the race. This places him 16th in the series, one up from the previous week.
Imperial Winter Series #10 - January 19th 2008
Paul Redman in his last race as a 4th cat: "A last minute change of heart by the customer meant I wasn't working all week-end, or indeed at all. That meant the chance to go racing. Bonus!! Round Ten of the Winter Series was a slight departure from the usual fare. Instead, we were at my old Secondary School in Staffordshire for two shorter races on an indoor circuit. Away from the cloakroom, then left along the bottom corridor, out of the door by the Home Ec. rooms followed by a mad dash across the playground and back into the building by the music room. A hard left and then down past the drama room, down the ramp and back to the cloakroom to complete a lap.
The first race up and the National U16's Girls Champion got away from the bunch on a solo break-away. I left the bunch behind to try and bridge the gap but familiar to last week, I was stranded in-between. I couldn't make contact with her, but kept up enough speed so that the peleton didn't reach me either. I was pleased with second place and then looked forward to the second race half-an-hour later.
No such lapses in concentration this time, it was me who made the jump from the pack and I motored to a fine, solo win. My first ever and I joyously punched the air with both hands on crossing the line. After a warm-down, it was time for a fine, Thames Velo BBQ in the drama room where I was on the receiving end of smiles and warm handshakes at getting the points for 3rd cat. I was slightly disappointed that the luscious brunette ladies from Mr Bowen's form didn't show up .... and indeed they never did .... because it was at that point that I woke up. There were no points, no victories and the grim reality hit home that it was also raining outside!!
Fully awake, I headed to Hillingdon for the usual Saturday lark; the temperature was mild but the drizzle was persistent. I toyed with the idea of ditching the overshoes but felt in the end that the wet weather warranted them. What with the foul conditions, there was still the healthy field of thirty or more. This week, I decided not to go off on a flyer on the first or second lap, I stayed in the top ten and happily cruised around, slowly but surely getting rather wet. When the pace picked up, I decided not to respond and arrived at the back of the bunch but hanging on comfortably as always.
A few laps into the race, a lone rider got away from the front and built up a lead of some two hundred metres. Alarm bells started to ring, so I made my way to the front to help with the chase. After a few strong turns, the gap was pegged. I stayed at the front for two laps and slowly, we reeled him in. When the pace quickened ready for 'the catch', I once again didn't respond and drifted to the back to take station in the guard's van.
It was also around this time that visibility became difficult and near impossible. My brain would've suggested that a great fog had descended upon that part of
Whilst plotting and scheming on how to finish the race and where to position myself and when, one of the two major talking points happened. With less than five laps to go, down the back-straight there must have been a touch of wheels. Around the middle of the bunch, all of a sudden over a dozen riders clattered into each other and/or the ground. Those immediately behind were held up, but as I was last on the scene, I only needed to slow down a little whilst weaving around the carnage. Then I realised I needed to get a skate on; two guys had gone clear from the front and another nine were chasing hard behind .... I needed a good kick to latch onto the back of this group if I wanted a top ten placing. Going up the start/finish straight, I managed to get on board and looking briefly over my shoulder, I was the last person to do so. This looked like top twelve guaranteed, barring any woe or calamity further ahead.
The nine of us worked hard for the few laps which were remaining and we scooped up two riders ahead before the bell lap. Time, I thought, to implement 'The
Wise men say that no two sprints are the same and this one was markedly different to a fortnight previously in that I was overtaken much, much sooner going up the hill. First one, then a second and then a third all glided past before the two hundred metre line and then the second of the major talking points occurred.
Some total and utter lunatic, some crack-pot idiot, some fool, some incompetent oaf had allowed three youths onto the circuit to warm up prior to their race. These tiny tots were now cruising up the hill, three abreast on the right, level with a lapped rider on the left. The gap available was about one cyclist wide but the concern about a potential, catastrophic collision meant that I momentarily sat up from the sprint. Thankfully, nothing horrendous happened (…. although I did complain to the officials afterwards!) and I started to cruise for the line, aware that I wasn’t going to catch the three in front and I had those points in the bag!
Final note :- I thought I had 4th on the line, but whilst watching the video afterwards, I was told it was 5th place. When we’d caught the two riders who were away from the front, one was a lapped rider and the young
In the E/1/2/3 race Harry Bulstrode was as active as ever, getting away in a group of 7 that had detached itself from the main bunch. He came in 11th and has picked up further series points to be currently in 17th place with 220 points. A top 15 place is possible from the remaining 4 races.
Imperial Winter Series #9 - January 12th 2008
Paul Redman on his 4th cats race: "After the deluge of rain the previous day, it was nice to see clear, sunny skies for the ninth round of the Imperial Winter Series. Unfortunately, there was a very brisk westerly wind which kept the temperature down and the overshoes on.
At the start, I hit the front more or less straightaway and launched an attack down the back-straight. Sadly, no-one decided to join me and so I kicked some more going around the final two bends to keep a healthy gap after one lap covered. I suspect such a move doesn't make one popular with the people at the back who like a nice, easy first lap (shades of me on December 1st!!); but given I would miss Round Ten due to work commitments, I was keen for a good outing. On the second lap, I was swooped up and back safely in the peleton. I glided towards the back to recover from the initial exertion and took up my station at the rear.
Some laps later, I saw a group of six had sneaked away from the front and were starting to build up a small lead of maybe fifty metres. It didn't seem a lot and this being the 4th cat., I was initially confident that the escapees would be hauled back. About two laps after that point, the confidence I had in that respect had evaporated and I decided it was best to go and join our friends up the road, who were slowly nudging away.
I made my way to the front and went off on the attack, taking an indie rider with me. After my strong turn, he took his for half a lap before I recovered sufficiently to take over again, ready for another battering by the wind. Once I felt I'd taken my turn, I looked around to see why he wasn't coming through .... the reason was that I had left him behind. I was firmly now in no-man's land; rough guess, a hundred metres to the break and maybe a bit less than a hundred metres back to the peleton. Stranded.
Thanks to the strong wind, it was going to be tough work to make contact with the six-man break but thankfully a Dulwich Paragon rider joined me. The relief didn't last long as I couldn't hold his wheel for more than half a lap, so he was now stranded and I was going backwards. Then another Dulwich rider came by me and he eventually joined his team-mate at around the same time I was swallowed up by the main bunch. Inevitably though, they were brought back too with the leading group now well out of sight by this stage.
The lap countdown boards came and went, then on the final lap two of the Dulwich chaps went from the front again to try and round out more Top Ten places. I was near the front for the final two corners, but my line wasn't quite where I wanted it to be, so I couldn't quite launch towards full speed when I wanted to. I made up a fair few places going up the hill to the line, but in the end, I had to be content with 14th place.""
Imperial Winter Series #8 - January 8th 2008
Paul Redman reports from the 4th cat race: "Race number eight in the Winter Series and the worst possible preparation for it, as I didn't leave work until 2am on Friday night thanks to a Linux upgrade project. No time also to prep the bike, but with two strong coffees inside me, I arrived at Hillingdon prepared to give the race a good go nonetheless. That was until I finished warming up and I felt as shattered as when I first woke up .... thanks, of course, to not finishing work until 2am!!
As soon as we were given the go-ahead, I hit the front and took turns at the front with No.51 (Peter) on the first lap. I had a bit of a dig going up the final straight and a few riders came with me. We worked together for a while, but it didn't look as though the small gap we had made was getting any bigger, so I decided to freewheel until I was back in the main bunch; likewise so did the other chaps soon after. I stayed near the front for another lap, then began to drift backwards .... feeling the effects of working long hours the night before.
For the next twenty-five minutes, I was content to stay at the back of the pack and cruise around, but also keeping an eye on who, if anyone, went away from the front. There were a few lone break-aways, but none of them succeeded. I also found time to pay tribute to the legendary Kevin Hulsmans (the Quick-Step domestique for all you non-Kevin fans) by pulling a funny face when I saw Dennis Sackett's camera pointing at me; the result of which is on his web-site.
When the five-lap board came out, my thoughts turned towards the end of the race, but were quickly overtaken with the realisation that I was pretty knackered and would have rather stopped somewhere on the circuit for a power-nap. Never mind, I made an effort to get mid-bunch during the last part of the race, but I soon went backwards again and so with three laps, two laps and then one lap to go; I was at the back of the bunch and thinking how it could have all been different had I not been in work until 2am the previous night, which I don't think I have mentioned, have I?
The pace increased a notch at the bell and so I swept around the curves, keen to maintain contact with the bunch in case any opportunity presented itself. On the previous two races, I had been boxed-in somewhat on the dash for the line .... my heart and lungs not reaching anything like their maximum work-rate, but the riders ahead prevented any forward progress. This had been going through my mind for a few days and so going down the back-straight on the last lap, a plan formed very quickly.
To shelter from the strong, south-westerly wind, riders were only three of four abreast, giving me ample room to saunter down the outside of the bunch. Our very own Gary Bullock gave me some advice for 'the last lap at Hillingdon' a few weeks ago, so I decided to give it a try. As I neared the penultimate corner, I made good progress along the outside of the main field and I timed it so that I'd be level with the leading rider a few metres from the apex of the corner.
As soon as I was level, I gave it full gas. Enough of this being boxed-in lark, I was going to go for it and hopefully my speed would get me far enough so that maybe only half-a-dozen riders or so would overhaul me before the line. As soon as I rounded the penultimate corner, the wind was behind me and so I stamped on the pedals some more, then took a smooth line through the final corner. Never in a million years was I going to look behind .... they'd be on my back wheel for sure. Only a few hundred metres left and I was in the lead.
It was possibly foolish to sprint right down the middle of the track, but I didn't want to get hemmed in towards a grass verge. Powering up the hill, I was still in the lead but conscious that there was a wheel on my left-hand side. The wheel drew level with my crank, but I increased the pace another notch and the wheel went backwards. Two hundred metres to go and I was still in pole position .... my legs were spinning furiously, everything was working well .... the wheel on my left was starting to nudge up again and then I started to see a wheel on my right as well ....
One hundred metres to go .... I was still in the lead, I still had the initiative, but what I needed now was a second kick .... I tried to find the second kick, but it was not engaging, there was no turbo-boost, there was no last surge .... this was all there was and we'd have to make do with it. The rider on my left and then the one on my right started to inch up on me. I made one last effort to find that final kick, but I had to hope I could hold on ....
Fifty metres left .... the rider to my left drew level, then so did the one on my right. I'm was aware too that further over to my left, there was another rider. What we had here, ladies and gentlemen, was a four-abreast sprint for the line, there was no-one else in it now. With my second kick absent for the day, possibly still at my desk doing upgrades; the riders to my immediate left and right nudged ahead .... the winner's rostrum was a fast fading dream. I was now fighting to hold onto third and it was a fight I was losing as the rider (Marcus from Twickenham) drew level and got his front wheel ahead of mine.
Either he faded or I found a last microgram of power .... and I managed to sneak over the line before him, but it must have been very close with only centimetres in it. If the lady track-side with the camera caught any footage of that sprint, I'd love to watch it over and over. On the warm-down lap there were thumbs-up and smiles at a good, clean, hard fought sprint. It wasn't until later that I saw for definite that I bagged third place. Many congratulations to Kevin Ball though, he timed his sprint to perfection .... good luck in the 3rd cats, chap."
Imperial Winter Series #7 - January 1st 2008
Paul Redman reports from the 4th cat race: "It was an earlier start than usual on New Year’s Day for Round 7 of the Imperial Racing Team Winter Series. There didn’t appear to be too many bleary and bloodshot eyes on the startline; I for one was keen to burn off the handfuls of roasted peanuts I’d enjoyed at the previous night’s party.
With visibly less young ‘uns around me, I mischievously went off on a flyer from the start, getting a good gap. Then a few other riders joined me, but it was quickly swept up again by the main field. I took some strong turns on the front, in particular to retrieve a lone breakaway rider who escaped half-way through the race. Then on one occasion, I came to the front to do a turn and after a few strong pedal revolutions, wondered why no-one was coming through for their turn. A quick glance behind revealed that I’d got myself another gap. I toyed with the idea of putting in a few bursts to try and stay away, but going up the hill to complete another lap, I decided to ease off to save my energy for the final burst.
Unfortunately, the plan for the final burst got off on the wrong foot when on the final corner of the penultimate lap, some stupid, old loon went for a gap to my left that wasn’t there. An “On your left” call would have been nice, instead I was side-swiped and did well to keep control of the bike; even though the loss of momentum cost me a few places.
I managed to get towards the front of the bunch again going down the back-straight, but like Saturday, it was another repeat of the “wrong place, wrong time” and I managed to find myself boxed in. Nevertheless, the improvement keeps on coming and I bagged 12th place on the line."