North Road RR, Sun 1st June 2003
We managed to field a good little team this weekend at the North Road CC Summer Road Race - Rob Driver, Alex Higham, Chris Nichols, Myself (& Peter Watson in Cambridge CC disguise).
A scenic undulating 10 mile circuit through some pretty Essex villages, Debden & Thaxted, near Saffron Walden - a pleasantly short drive from Cambridge.
Weather forecast had not been good, and a spot of rain before the start looked ominous, but thankfully it stopped and held off for the entire race.
A fairly gentle start made it easy to stay in for the first lap, but unfortunately that was all that myself and Chris could manage - due to mechanical failures :-) Chris's race ended unfortunately when his rear mech fell off.. Once fixed, a monumental effort to chase back on would have been required. My race ended when my cassette decided to remind me that it needed replacing at the bottom of the hardest 'climb' on the circuit. I went from the front of the race to the back and beyond before sorting out my gears, and then after 3 miles of chasing, my little legs had had enough.
So then I guess the real race started! None of several breakaway attempts managed to get away until finally within the last lap, the winning break of 6 stuck. Rob managed to get in this, and fought hard with the others to stay away until the finish. Some tactical riding by Alex and Peter helped keep the bunch under control.
There were 5pound primes at the end of each lap for the first rider over the line, and Rob managed to clinch the last of these as well - adding to an excellent performance in his first road race.
Results:
1 Hayden Groves - North Road CC - 78km in 2:05:20
2 Malcolm Fawcett (London Phoenix CC) @ 1s
3 Greg Gaiger (Verulam CC)
4 Richard Somerset (North Road CC) @ 2s
5 Ross Clarke (Verulam CC)
6 Rob Driver (Cambridge Uni CC) @ 3s
Alex Higham, and Peter Watson finished in the bunch @ 30s.
Primes:
1 Richard Farrow
2 Malcolm Fawcett
3 Greg Gaiger
4 Rob Driver
It was a well run, and (mostly) safe race, and I think we all enjoyed the atmosphere. It's certainly encouraged me to get out and do more of it - hopefully I'll make it to the end next time..
Pete Leek