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Son's NO.1 & 2 were entered into the 1st round of the WeCylce Summer crit series last night at Marsh Tracs in Rhyl, so I thought WTF why not give it a go, it's a nice 1.6km long fast wide circuit with sweeping corners so a safe environment for a newbie to tarmac racing like me.
It was a small field in the all comers E/1/2/3/4 race, more than small there were 5 of us and I was the oldest by a good 20 years đŸ˜€ I wasn't quite expecting it to go bonkers from the off but it did and I was off the back instantly, so just rode as hard as I could for 50 minutes and came a mighty 5th, no surprises there. I managed to average just shy of 36kph and completed 25 laps, the winner was over 4kph faster.
The leading pair lapped me 3 times as I thought they would, turns out one of them is a Pro for the 05/03 St Piran development team and the other was the 2019 National Junior hill climb champ and was 22nd at last years seniors. Nonetheless I enjoyed it in a perverse kind of way and will definitely be racing at least 3 out of the remaining 5 races, if nothing else it's a bloody good work out.
On a more successful note, No.1 son was 2nd in the Youth C race to a big & powerful 2nd year and No.2 son won the Youth D race, so a good night all round.
Sounds brilliant and congrats to the kids...
Also sounds a bit crazy đŸ˜€ but i can't judge đŸ˜€
sounds like you won the Vets / Grand vets / Super Grand Vets (you only said 20 years older, not how old)
I award you a chocolate bar of your choosing, and find a suitable step for a podium. YOU ARE A WINNER!
Well done. E1-4 races are pretty unusual. The top two were there for the points. What happened to riders 3 and 4? Next race, aim to be lapped once less. That's how you make progress đŸ™‚
Progress goes as follows:
First you get dropped from the bunch and LAPPED
Then you get DROPPED from the bunch
Then you finish IN the bunch
Then you finish TOP THIRD in the bunch
Then you contest the sprint for top 10 (points)
Then you WIN!
Took me more than 100 races to get to the win - and I only won once! đŸ˜€ I will admit that staring racing E1's is always going to be a hiding to nothing. When I raced the E123 Hillingdon crits pre-COVID, finishing in the bunch felt like a win. And I was broken for a day or two after. Find a Vets series, much more accommodating.
@theotherjonv - I'm 46, and the rest of them were 23 at the most! I'll have a Yorkie please, thanks.
@TiRed - it was opened up to all to try and maximise entries, there were more kids (Youth A to D) than adults so its a good future. I'm sure I'd fair better in a race with more guys at my level (newbies to the black stuff) but it was fun anyway. OT be fair they only got me for the 3rd time with 1.5 laps left, I let off a bit on a straight as i didn't want to get in the way of their rather hasty progress.
Awesome! Well done to you all 😀
TiRed’s original list kept me entertained for two years 🤣
1. Buy a race license and enter a race
2. Not get dropped
3. Finish mid pack
4. Finish top third
5. Work on the front
6. Contest the sprint
7. Bridge to a break
8. Attack
9. Contest the points
10. Win!