Mercedes World Circuits - June 21

I thought I'd give these crit races a try. After finally finding the venue - Brooklands, Weybridge - I signed on in the posh Mercedes show room. The smell of fresh leather was very noticable. Imperial RT hosted this round of the sign-on with Surrey League as organisers.

The circuit
Brilliant! Smooth and silky surface, tight corners and nice fast sections. The event was a handicap so I was sent off in a small scratch group with notable riders (Dan Duguid from Cycling Weekly). We soon cought the front groups and with 10 laps to go the 'final' front group was formed. Me, a Sigma Sport rider and a VC Meudon rider pulled away and gained a very healthy lead. On the home straight dashing for the line I completely 'switched off' and watched my two groupees escaped. I finished in 3rd place.

Verdict
Great circuit, easy to get to and well worth the effort.

(Photo courtesy of Dennis Sackett - www.cyclingphotos.org.uk)

Kenton Road Race (17 June)

I raced the Kenton RR on Sunday and had a good'ish ride. Martin Smith, my team mate, clipped away at the start of the race and stayed their until its conclusion. I managed to cover most of the moves to get across.... except the 2 that did - very unlucky or stupid (depends of your mood) Not only should I have gone across with Danny (Axford), but Gary (Dodd) also clipped off while I was recovering and bridged across to the lead group. I'll have to be a little more attentive next time and maybe 'hide' in the bunch until these sorts of moves go. Or better still, attack early on myself.

Tom (Smith) was invloved in an unforseen crash that took place right in front of him and was taken down. He is, fortunately, fine but with no service vechicle following was forced to call it a day much to his disgust. I've also just learn't that he managed to wreck a beautiful pair of Fulcrum full carbon wheels....ouch! That's expensive.

I placed 14th. Martin finished 7th and the race was won by Phil Hetzel from Ipswitch RC.

AW Cycles riders:
Martin S (7th)
Rob E (14th)
Alex P (main group)
Mark M (?)
Tom S (DNF - crashed out)

Neil Cooper had awesome ride winning the 3/4 cat race - well done Neil.

Speedy recovery Riggy

My dear old friend has been in the wars. Now, before I say anything more I need to make it clear that I don't know the exact details so please read with caution. While out having fun (details sketchy) in Greece, Riggy managed to jump off a ledge a little higher than he anticipated. I think his judgement might have been clouded by some 'happy juice' aka beer. Before he knew it he was falling at terminal velocity crashing to the ground.

He sustained multiple fractures. When I say multiple I mean many: fractured bilateral right ankle, fractured bilateral left ankle, comminuted fracture of left calcaneous bone, fracture of right calcaneous and fracture right tibia. As a result he's now in bilateral casts and reduced to a wheel chair for a couple of months.

Take care and hope you recover soon buddy.

NPS 3 - Margam Park (2nd June)

My Goal
To complete this race. Yes, that simple.

Last round I had an awful race at Sherwood and DNF'd. At one point (2 hours before the start) I decided that I wasn't going to ride. Then after much to'ing and fro'ing in my head I decided to sign on and race. At least I'd get a hard training session in and of course have a bit of fun off-road.

The course was awesome - super hilly, technical and some great swoopy singletrack sections. The only part of the course I never got on with was the mud pool we had to walk through at the back end of the circuit.

I started pretty slowly, but soon got into a rhythm and got stronger as the race progressed. On the penultimate lap I had a front wheel blow-out and stacked. I managed to get my front wheel inflated and continue - start the chase to catch up. By the last lap I was flying and came home in a satisfying 12th. Sam Gardner won the race - the hills clearly suiting him.

For more info including photos visit the BCF website.