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Anglo Polymers Road Race - 12th May
5 riders
from VC Revolution made the journey to Huntingdon on
Sunday 11 May to compete in the St Ives hosted Anglo
Polymers Road Race. Richard Norris, Paul Dewberry,
Richard Wood, Andrew Elderfield and myself, Andy Minns.
The race would be contested over a 55 mile course on the
hottest day of the year, with temperatures reaching 27
degrees.
I knew I
was going to struggle with the overall distance of this
event once you took account of the 6 mile neutralised
section, which interestingly saw riders crashing before
the race had even started.
Once the
race commenced properly the pace was fairly high from
the outset with Andrew Elderfield and Richard Wood
positioning themselves near the front and trying to make
some breaks whilst I made an error from the start by
riding nervously near the back. The course included a
narrow section where riders were strung out and the rear
of the bunch was not the place to be.
This same
narrow section unfortunately caused Richard Norris to
puncture on the second lap and by this stage I had
settled into the race and began riding nearer the front
of the bunch. I think we all had near misses today with
Paul Dewberry also having a rider pull his foot out of
his cleat in front of him on the race’s main climb.
I
suffered over the last lap of the race and felt the
finishing sprint was not going to suit me, therefore
attacked prior to the narrow section of the lap in a
vain attempt to block riders and keep the pace at a
level suiting me.
The race
was eventually won by 3rd category rider
Dieter Rowe of VC Norwich. Overall, a great days
training in the heat, but the course was always going to
produce a sprint finish. Paul Dewberry was first home
for VCR, with Andrew Elderfield and myself picking up
further bunch finishes. I think Richard Wood punctured
all of 5 miles from home.
Andy Minns |
