Pros come out to play

Dave Clark (unattached) and Alex Higham (PCA Plowman) were surprising starters today. Elstead, Surrey played host (promoted by VC Meudon) to today's Surrey League road race over 104km.

Before the race I asked Alex what brought him to the race? Alex started the Tour of Britain for Plowman, but after some silly events was disqualified after the first stage. Alex told me that during the first stage, in London, he was experiencing problems with his bike. He tryied to get to the mechanical support vehicle for help. Whilst there he held onto the mirror and was later DQ'd (disqualified). All that effort - training and preparing - only to be kicked out after the first stage. What added salt to the wound was he saw Petacchi holding on to a vehicle too but nothing came of that.

Mr 'For Sale', Dave Clark, rode like a beast today. Even early on he was itching to make moves. Alex too was chomping at the bit, but naturally they were marked men. Alex explained that he and Dave made a pact that only one of them were to make a move as it might look a little suspicious. Suspicious of what I wonder :-/

I was not expecting any great results today, but seeing the weather was uncharacteristically sunny (despite it still being early autumn) I thought I'd get out on my bike (AW Cycles RT) and show my face. I raced well for the first 5 of 9 laps, but retreated to the back of the group missing all the moves. I actually thought I might pack with 3 laps to go while my energy levels dropped. I then came to my senses and decided to see out the race. Good move Rob!

Dave meanwhile made his move with 4 laps. The last 3 he rode on his own. The course wasn't particularly suited to Dave's type of riding - he likes lots of hills - so with that in mind he certainly showed his class today. Paul Holdsworth finished a respectable 2nd - awesome result from a veteran of the road ;-)

I came home at the back of the third group just behind Roger Morgan (VC Meudon) who I must say had an awesome ride. Roger seemed to be suffering the all day. With every climb I thought he was a 'gonner', but came back on to complete the race.

My stats

Time: 02:47
Distance: 104km
Average heart rate: 169bpm
Average speed: 37.5kph

Results

1 David Clarke Lacuna
2 Paul Holdsworth Hounslow & District 1V
3 Paul Robertson Sportstest.co.uk
4 Stephen Gowar Sigma Sport RT 1V
5 Mike Hawkins Norwood Paragon CC 1
6 Gary Dodd Sigma Sport RT 1V
7 Christopher McNamara Wildside RT E
8 Adam Cotterell TriSportNews.com 2
9 Toby Meadows Team Corridori 1J
10 Steven Richards VC Meudon 1
11 Simon McNamara Wildside RT 1
12 Marcus Brueton Norwood Paragon CC 2
13 Roger Smith VC Etoile 2
14 Lewis Atkins agiskoviner.com 1
15 Andy Betts Twickenham CC 1
16 James King In Gear Development Squad 2
17 Justin Callaway DHCyclesport.co.uk 3
18 Mark Sussex Wildside RT 2
19 Kevin Davey Norwood Paragon CC 3V
20 Lee Smith agiskoviner.com 1
21 Roger Morgan VC Meudon 1
22 Robert Enslin awcycles.co.uk 1
23 Jason Edwards Wildside RT 1
24 Benjamin MacLand VC Meudon 2V